Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka has connected the fatalities of 23 children to shortcomings by municipalities in upholding health standards.
Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka attributed the deaths of 23 children in Gauteng during 2024 to the province’s municipalities, citing their inability to enforce environmental health regulations.
Her remarks came during the presentation of initial findings from an inquiry into the fatalities, which resulted from food poisoning linked to items purchased from spaza shops. The inquiry aimed to determine if public health protection agencies had neglected their responsibilities.
Gcaleka highlighted that municipalities in Gauteng suffered from a persistent lack of environmental health inspectors, leading to hazards frequently going undetected.
She noted that an optimal benchmark required at least one environmental health practitioner (EHP) for every 10,000 residents. Gauteng would require approximately 1,600 EHPs to achieve this level. She further stated that no municipality in the province operated at more than 50% of this capacity, with the overall provincial average standing at merely 30.3%.
Environmental health staffing levels were reported at 50% in Johannesburg, 23% in Ekurhuleni, and 21% in Tshwane. Sedibeng recorded only 16%, while the West Rand District Municipality stood at 18%.
Following the poisonings, an initiative was launched to register spaza shops. Data indicated that merely 28% of these establishments were registered, implying that nearly three unregistered outlets operated for every licensed one. Ekurhuleni showed the lowest compliance, with a rate of approximately 5%.
“The legislative function of business registrations, including the processing of applications to operate spaza shops, resides with local government,” Gcaleka said. “Municipalities are designated as business licensing authorities and as such execute this function through their local economic development departments. A designated municipality retains final authority over zoning permits, floor plans, fire compliance certificates, and business land‑use rights and approvals.”
Gcaleka presented several recommendations to address the issue and avert future tragedies. These involved mandating municipal managers to conduct audits of their EHPs to pinpoint capacity deficiencies within 30 days and to devise corrective plans within 60 days. Such plans would incorporate measures to enhance the oversight and inspection of food establishments.
She further directed the police and the South African Revenue Service to probe issues like fraud, corruption, and failures to meet tax responsibilities.
“These findings demand immediate, coordinated, and uncompromising action from every state role player. The intended remedial action aims to restore the rule of law, capacitate our institutions, and ensure that the people of South Africa are never exposed to the consequences of these systemic failures again,” she said.
Similar to the existing infrastructural and service shortfalls, the failure to sustain adequate monitoring of food establishments highlights the condition of much of South Africa’s municipal governance and administrative approaches that have neglected essential outcomes. These systems are often easily vulnerable to political and even criminal capture, a burgeoning issue in some of South Africa’s most significant cities.
