Foodborne Illnesses Declared a National Disaster in South Africa

On Tuesday, 19 November 2024, the Director of South Africa’s National Disaster Management Centre, Dr Bongani Elias Sithole, declared foodborne illnesses a national disaster. Published under the National Gazettes, No. 51624. This announcement follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s order to immediately close all the spaza shops implicated in foodborne illness cases.

Given the magnitude of the situation and the negative consequences of poor food safety practices in the country and across the informal Spaza shop sector, which have led to numerous deaths and illnesses. This classification aligns with Section 26 of the National Disaster Act of 2002.

View Government Gazette No 51624 HERE

In addition to the classification, Dr Sithole has also called for active participation and engagement by all organs of the state to strengthen their support of their current structures further to deal with the crisis the country is facing effectively. As per Sections 20(2) and 22(a) of the Act, communities, individuals and private companies are also urged to improve their food safety practices by following food safety legislation, standards, and procedures.

This call, in line with Sections 25(1)(c), 39(2)(k), 53(1)(c) and 53(2)(k) of the Act, and other applicable legislation, recommends that the National Government, the Provincial Executives and the respective Municipal Councils, implement a multisectoral relief and rehabilitation plan to deal with the effects of these foodborne illnesses; and also in line with section 21(a)(ii), requires that each government department prepare and submit progress reports, in line with the requirements of the National Disaster Management Centre, to monitor the response initiatives by organs of state, non-governmental organisations and communities.

Furthermore, the centre expects affected municipalities and government departments to prepare and submit reports on this matter as mandated by Sub-Sections 4 and 8 of Section 24 of the act.

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