The families of children who allegedly ate snacks from Gauteng spaza shops and later died are having a hard time moving on.
They claim that the registration of spaza shops will not change their new reality of living without their children.
The deceased children’s parents argue that no justice has been done, no one has been apprehended, and no one has been held accountable for the death of their children.
According to William Mogagabe, uncle to the late Leon Jele, who died at the age of six, his sister, Lerato, is struggling to live without her child.
In October last year, Leon was among four children who allegedly consumed biscuits from a spaza shop in Naledi, Soweto, and later died.
“Even though we do not talk about this all the time, you can tell that this is eating her up inside. She is still angry; that is why we avoid talking about it.
“We have not heard that there will be people who will account for this; how do we move on?” said Mogagabe.
Even though they have suspects, Mogagabe said they could not sue the spaza shop owners because the last update they received from the government was that the snacks did not
contain any poison.
He said the death of his nephew is an internal wound that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives.
“You cannot heal an internal wound. My sister posts her child on her WhatsApp status every day. She has questions that none of us have answers to.
“The child’s siblings miss him. We will never fully heal from this,” he added.
According to Mogagabe, the community of Tladi in Soweto is working together to eliminate spaza shops owned by foreign nationals.
“This has become a cold case, but we are doing away with these foreign-owned shops. We have now resorted to petrol stations, as expensive as they are.”
Meanwhile, the Ramoshaba family from Meadowlands, Soweto, said the death of their daughter Kelebogile feels like a new wound every day.
When discussing her, the family is still sad, even though they said they did not want to apportion blame.
Her sister, Lisa Ramoshaba, said their home is quiet without Kelebogile’s bubbly character.
“Our parents said we needed to let go for our own peace, but it has been difficult. My children ask about her from time to time because she used to play with them,” said Ramoshaba.
Naledi community activist Poppy Legodi said registering spaza shops was not going to change anything.
She said they made efforts to make it possible for South Africans to operate spaza shops; however, they have been receiving threats.
“I do not see how registering spaza shops is going to help because we have a new problem now. Every week, spaza shops owned by South Africans get robbed at gunpoint.
“One wonders if it is not those foreign nationals who owned spaza shops here. We banned them here, so they were angry when they left.”
