National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, has warned that the police will, through the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS), monitor adherence to the law.
This comes as integrated multidisciplinary teams undertake compliance inspections of food handling facilities, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers. This includes spaza shops and general dealers.
The President last week announced that a massive campaign of door-to-door inspections of all spaza shops, tuck shops and other informal traders will be undertaken, starting with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
This will be undertaken by teams consisting of the South African Military Health Services, environmental health practitioners, the South African Police Service, the National Consumer Council, labour inspectors and others.
The initial phase of inspections is expected to be completed within a month.
"As the police we expect everyone to cooperate. We will continue to visit warehouses countrywide to ensure that we know what is contained there, to ensure that we know what is being transported and to ensure that there is no illegal stuff that proliferate in the country," General Masemola said.
He was briefing media in Pretoria on Thursday, along with various Ministers who are leading the multidisciplinary teams in government, responsible for the national response to instances of food borne illnesses.
General Masemola warned that the police would not hesitate to take action if people are not cooperating or where there is non-compliance.
The NATJOINTS has further encouraged communities to register their businesses and be responsible citizens.
"Government appeals to members of the public not to disturb the process of registration by blocking certain shop owners from participating in the process, this includes conducting unlawful inspections by members of the public and other unauthorised bodies," NATJOINTS said.
Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa called for all spaza shops and food-handling facilities to register with their respective municipalities within 21 days.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau emphasised the importance of registering businesses and ensuring compliance.
"If you continue to trade while unregistered, you are operating outside the framework that allows government to execute its responsibility to the necessary standard that has been set. We need to ensure that there is compliance. This is to protect our people," Tau said.
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He said unregistered enterprises in the townships and in the rural areas are not able to get support from government.
"When you are registered, it is possible for us to provide the necessary support. Our laws are clear on who qualifies to register a business, including a spaza shop," the Minister said.
The Minister of Small Business Development Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams stressed that only individuals and businesses that meet the legal requirements and regulations stipulated by South African laws will be permitted to operate businesses in the country.
Ndabeni-Abrahams said all must be onboard to address the crisis the country is faced with.
"We need to think bigger and look at the broader picture if we want to deal with the challenge and not only target one aspect of the challenge," the Minister said.
She said the law stipulates who can do business, whether you are South African or non-South African. "Our laws don't change because we are faced with a crisis. If you don't meet the requirements, you won't be able to trade," the Minister said.
Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams said municipalities on their own cannot verify the authenticity of all businesses and individuals.
She said they do not have the capacity to conduct identity authentication and hence they were bringing in other departments, like the Department of Home Affairs.
"Everybody running a business in the township, in the village, whether it's a butchery or a wholesale, you have a responsibility to go and register your business. We appeal to South Africans not to take the law into their own hands," the Minister said.
