Gauteng reports progress in spaza shop compliance ahead of registration deadline

By Johnathan Paoli.

The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has announced significant progress in the registration and compliance status of spaza shops and food-handling facilities across the province in a determined bid to safeguard public health and restore consumer confidence.

The provincial Finance and Economic Development department released an extensive update on the registration, stressing the push for stricter regulation as being ignited by a series of alarming incidents of food-borne illnesses in November last year.

“Ultimately, we seek to ensure that the horrors of the last year where our children were hospitalised and killed as a result of non-compliance on the part of spaza shops and food-handling facilities are never repeated,” said Lebogang Maile, Gauteng MEC of Finance and Economic Development.

This announcement follows a series of media briefings designed to ensure transparency and accountability after a severe crisis of food-borne illnesses that affected communities throughout South Africa.

In response