The alarming number of deaths caused by food poisoning in townships raises a pressing concern that demands immediate attention and action: What measures are being implemented to ensure equitable access to nutritious food products while promoting the optimal health and well-being of people living in these communities?
Image: IOL
By Lemeese Steyn and Stanley Muravha
South Africa is home to around 532 townships, where over 40% of its urban population resides. In 2019, these townships had about 21.7 million residents, with Gauteng province having the largest population of 8.9 million. The establishment and development of these townships stemmed from the discriminatory policies of the apartheid era, specifically the Black Communities Development Act of 1962. As a result, these areas were often neglected and underdeveloped.
Townships serve as a reminder of the apartheid segregation policies, they are usually situated on the outskirts of cities, far from the opportunities and resources available to others. Thirty years into democracy, the legacy of apartheid continues to cast a long shadow over township areas, disproportionately affecting non-white residents. The scourge of high crime rates, entrenched poverty, unemployment, and inadequate service delivery persists. Currently, township residents are facing an additional pressing concern, the alarming rise in food poisoning and food-borne illnesses, which threaten food security in townships and residents’ health and well-being.
Food poisoning is not an unprecedented issue in South Africa. In 2017, South Africa experienced an outbreak of listeriosis, where listeria bacteria contaminated food such as polonies, russian, viennas, and sausages. This food poisoning disease resulted in many people suffering from physical injuries and death. Over 1024 cases were reported, and this outbreak resulted in 199 deaths. The source of this outbreak was food production firms at Polokwane.
Apart from listeriosis, South Africa has experienced various incidents of food poisoning caused by consuming unsafe food, especially those that are being sold in foreign spaza shops in township areas. For instance, a student from Tshepisong in Roodepoort died after allegedly eating biscuits she bought from a spaza shop, and in Kagiso, 29 people were rushed to the hospital after suspected food poisoning, which resulted in 2 deaths and 29 others ill after eating funeral food. In 2021, in Mpumalanga, two siblings died within an hour of allegedly eating noodles. At the same time, three Eastern Cape children, aged 11 and 7, as well as a 6-month-old baby boy, reportedly started feeling ill after eating a packet of noodles and died on their way to the Motherwell clinic. Alarmingly, since the beginning of September 2024, a staggering 890 incidents of food-borne illness have been reported in South Africa. Worldwide, more than 1 billion episodes of food poisoning-related diarrhoea occur annually, leading to the deaths of approximately 3 million children per year, mainly in underdeveloped regions. This stark reality underscores a critical public health crisis that disproportionately affects vulnerable populations in impoverished and under-resourced areas.
Many townships are characterised by poverty, unemployment, and crime, inadequate service delivery and are usually situated on the outskirts of cities, far from the opportunities and resources available to others, separated from urban economic centres and movement structures of the city. This makes township residents often struggle financially to purchase fresh vegetables, fruits, and properly stored food. These compounding vulnerabilities highlight the disparity between the advantaged and disadvantaged in South Africa, widening the existing issues of inequality in South Africa.
Consequently, marginalised individuals are often forced to rely on inexpensive food options to make ends meet. And these intersecting forms of oppression exacerbate the structural violence experienced by residents living in townships. Currently, we can evaluate the food poisoning crisis in townships through the structural violence framework with this violence conducted in a very subtle yet pervasive way with innocent children losing their lives in pursuit of a sweet treat.
Structural violence is an insidious and pervasive form of violence that operates beneath the surface of broader social, political, and economic structures. Unlike physical violence, which is immediately visible and tangible, structural violence is often invisible, yet no less destructive as it can lead to physical violence. In South Africa, structural violence is inextricably linked to the discriminatory policies of the apartheid regime, which systematically dehumanised and marginalised non-white individuals. This legacy of oppression has contributed to the chronic neglect of townships, rendering their challenges invisible and unworthy of government intervention.
The stark contrast between the treatment of township residents and affluent suburbanites is telling. If food poisoning were to occur in affluent suburbs, where powerful individuals and government officials reside, one can be certain that swift action would be taken. Supermarkets suspected of selling unsafe food would be shut down, and policies and regulations governing food safety and quality would be vigorously enforced. The disparity in treatment is a stark reminder of the entrenched structural violence that perpetuates inequality and injustice in South Africa.
Local supermarkets selling unsafe and poor-quality food are required to register with their local authorities. However, this raises a critical question: Does registration merely provide a veneer of legitimacy, allowing these supermarkets to continue selling hazardous products, albeit legally? It is perplexing that the government fails to enforce existing policies and regulations, such as the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, which safeguards consumers' rights to fair value, good quality, and safety. Similarly, the Cosmetics, Disinfectants Act 54 of 1972, which promotes personal and environmental hygiene in food handling, remains largely unenforced.
The root causes of food safety issues and food-borne illnesses are well-documented: inadequate food safety practices, poor sanitation, and poor hygiene. However, in South African townships, these problems are exacerbated by structural violence, the lack of enforcement of food safety laws and regulations, coupled with weak quality inspections by government authorities.
Looking at the number of food poisoning accidents, food poisoning is a pandemic and a state of emergency in South African townships and the local government should immediately prohibit anyone from selling, manufacturing, and importing contaminated and poisonous food. People who conduct business or handle food should ensure that the storage, cooking, preparation and handling of food is hygienic and disinfected from any germs and bacteria or any substance that may contaminate or poison food products.
Since 2021, the Department of Health has been urging consumers to be vigilant when buying food to ensure that the packaging is not damaged, expiry dates are visible, and purchases are made from reputable retailers. The public is also encouraged to practice good hygiene when handling food, and they should report any suspicious food products to the local authorities so that necessary and accurate investigations can be carried out to stop the spread of food-borne diseases. However, poor food manufacturing is circulating in social media and accidents are reported daily, but still very little is being done about that.
The incident of food borne diseases disproportionately affects lower-income areas, sparking concerns that socioeconomic disparities are contributing to the lack of attention given to food poisoning in townships. Furthermore, the frequency of food-borne disease outbreaks in South Africa is alarming, yet most incidents remain shrouded in silence, with many going unreported.
Like a puzzle with missing pieces, people's vulnerabilities in townships create gaps that contaminated food products can exploit. Food poisoning in these marginalised areas results from negligence and unregulated practices in informal food markets. While the informal economy supports the daily livelihoods of the poor, the consequences can be dire.
The alarming number of deaths caused by food poisoning in townships raises a pressing concern that demands immediate attention and action: What measures are being implemented to ensure equitable access to nutritious food products while promoting the optimal health and well-being of people living in these communities? The number of deaths caused by food poisoning in townships is a concern that’s been swept under the rug and requires immediate discussion.
* Lemeese Steyn and Stanley Muravha are Master’s Students at the Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.