TSHWANE – Tshwane Health MMC Tshegofatso Mashabela said there was a need for government to ensure Spaza stores comply with regulations to avoid the sale of expired items.

Mashabela was speaking on Thursday in Zithobeni township in Bronkhorstspruit, where residents looted several spaza shops.

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The unrest comes after seven students from Mshuluzane Mayisela Primary School were hospitalized after eating snacks allegedly purchased from street vendors.

Mashabela said the government should perhaps do more to ensure Spaza shops follow the law.

“We need to know where they store their food because right now we’re just consuming things that we don’t know about. Just because the community is going all out, they shut down, they shut down and they ran away , but that is not the solution. The solution is that we need to know who is their main source of manufacturing of all products, because they are our biggest feeder in the communities.