Hlabisa welcomes closure of spaza shop that allegedly sold contaminated snacks to a child
The eight-year-old boy has been in intensive care in the hospital for almost a week after eating the snacks from the spaza shop.
COGTA Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa and City of Joburg Mayor Dada Morero during his visit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on 11 April 2025, in Soweto, to see the eight-year-old boy who got hospitalised after he allegedly consumed snacks at a local spaza shop. Picture: Simphiwe Nkosi/EWN
JOHANNESBURG - The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Velenkosini Hlabisa, praised the Mapetla community in Soweto for shutting down a tuck shop that allegedly sold contaminated snacks to a child.
Hlabisa addressed the community on Friday.
“What the community did to shut down this spaza shop as a source of illness to a young person who is in hospital was the right decision, in terms of ensuring that we do not experience more children going through the unfortunate scenario.”
The eight-year-old boy has been in intensive care in the hospital for almost a week after eating the snacks from the spaza shop.
Last Friday, residents gathered at the local store in question, forcing it to close shop.
Hlabisa reiterated that tuck shops countrywide must be compliant with government regulations.
“If you want to open a business as a foreign national, you must have an amount of R5 million in your account - which demonstrates that you are here for business purposes. If you don't have those documents, you are not allowed to run a business or a spaza shop.”