On the West Rand, 74 matric pupils were hospitalised for suspected food poisoning during a school camp.
McKenzie said the incidents demonstrated a need for action.
“South Africans have been exercising maximum restraint and discipline. Government should act quickly before people wrongfully take the law into their own hands. What do we owe the illegal foreigners? Let them go,” he said.
Gauteng finance MEC Lebogang Maile has cautioned the problem is more complex than it appears on the surface.
“Shops that are not selling the correct things must be closed. But you don’t wake up and say, ‘We will close all the foreign-owned shops’. South Africa is governed by laws,” he said.
“This matter is complicated. The other day we walked into a foreign-owned shop, but the Bangladesh national had South African citizenship. When you say, ‘close all the foreign-owned shops’, how do we refer to those people who have citizenship? This issue has become more complex and that’s why we must allow national government to lead us. But it must not be an issue that waits until there’s a problem.”
Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi said earlier this week authorities are investigating the cause of the food poisoning cases and six government entities have been roped in. This includes police, municipal environmental inspectors, the National Consumer Commission, the department of agriculture and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
TimesLIVE
Innocentia Nkadimeng
www.timeslive.co.za
