- Greater Tzaneen Municipality shut down spaza shops in Lenyenye Township after inspectors found expired food, cockroaches and unhygienic kitchens on Thursday.
- Resident Noria Mpai says the closed shops gave her family food on credit until month-end, an arrangement formal shops do not offer.
The Greater Tzaneen Municipality shut down several foreign-owned spaza shops in Lenyenye Township, Limpopo, on Thursday.
For some residents, it was not just a health crackdown. It was the removal of the only food safety net they have.
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Noria Mpai is one of them. When she has no money, the local spaza shop gives her food and lets her pay at month-end. No paperwork. No interest. No questions. That arrangement disappears when the shop closes.
"They give us food when I don't have money to pay for it and by month-end I pay them back," Mpai said.
"Why would you want to punish such a person?"
The inspection was a joint operation involving municipal officers, police, traffic officers and Home Affairs officials.
Inspectors found expired food on the shelves, cockroaches in the store rooms and food being prepared in unhygienic conditions. Some store rooms had been converted into sleeping quarters. The buildings did not meet health and safety standards.
Three foreign nationals were arrested and taken to Maake Police Station. They held valid asylum seeker documents but did not have permission to operate a business in South Africa.
Not everyone opposed the action. Resident Eric Moagi welcomed it.
"Our kids are eating expired snacks. We cannot allow such in our community anymore," he said.
Mpai also accused police of taking bribes from the shop owners before the inspection, saying officers should not have waited for the mayor to act before moving in.
GTM Mayor Odas Ngobeni said Thursday's operation was only the beginning.
"We found the buildings to be not in good condition and also some of the food items were expired. We cannot allow that to happen," he said.
