EXPLAINER | What the public protector found in spaza shops investigations

The public protector has found that Gauteng municipalities failed to implement adequate control mechanisms to effectively enforce food safety and hygiene regulations at spaza shops.

This exposes serious weaknesses in the oversight of spaza shops and other food-handling businesses.

Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka launched the investigation after receiving a complaint in October 2025 from the African Transformation Movement leader Vuyo Zungula.

The complaint followed a series of suspected food poisoning incidents in which several children died after allegedly consuming food bought from spaza shops.

Releasing her findings on Friday, Gcaleka said inspections revealed that about 72% of spaza shops were not compliant with food safety and hygiene regulations.

“The allegations that the functionaries of the Gauteng local government are not implementing adequate control mechanisms to ensure effective enforcement of prescripts regulating compliance with food safety and hygiene standards by the informal business sector are substantiated,” she said.

“A picture emerging from aggregated and empirical evidence before me reveals an ineffective system of enforcement of prescripts regulating compliance with food safety and hygiene standards by the informal business sector, which is under significant operational pressure, compromised and undermined.”

The report further found poor co-ordination between municipal departments responsible for environmental health and business licensing, while co-operation with the department of home affairs and SARS was hampered by delays in verifying immigration documentation and tax compliance.

Gcaleka also criticised the outdated Business Act of 1991, saying it is no longer suited to the realities of the modern informal business sector and highlighted the continued reliance on paper-based administrative systems that slow enforcement.

The investigation uncovered widespread violations of food safety regulations. Inspectors found repeated breaches of the Labelling Regulations (R146), including the sale and storage of repackaged, expired, unlabelled and spoiled food products.

Environmental health practitioners also reported persistent non-compliance with Regulation R638. Serious hygiene failures included food being stored directly on the ground or against walls in food handling facilities, spaza shops and public schools participating in feeding schemes.

Inspectors further found evidence of rodent infestations, poor hygiene practices and the presence of Aldicarb, a highly toxic rat poison, on food premises.

Public schools participating in the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) were also found to be falling short of minimum health and safety standards.

Some schools were operating without the required Certificates of Acceptability despite receiving statutory notices, while others lacked proper food preparation areas, dedicated changing facilities for food handlers, and were storing personal clothing in food preparation areas, all in contravention of Regulation R638.

Gcaleka further revealed that forensic investigations by the Department of Small Business Development uncovered cases of business fronting involving foreigners. Investigators found that, in some instances, the details submitted in business registration applications did not match the actual owners and operators of spaza shops.

They also identified possible fraud and corruption after discovering that some businesses listed in applications did not exist at the addresses provided, exposing discrepancies between official records and businesses operating on the ground.

In concluding her report, Gcaleka said the findings require “immediate, co-ordinated and uncompromising action” from all organs of state to address the systemic failures identified during the investigation.

“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.

Sowetan