17/11/2024
Melisizwe Mandela Write An Open Letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa on His 72nd Birthday
Mr. President,
As you mark your 72nd birthday today, I must ask: How can you, in good conscience, celebrate your life while the lives of South Africans, especially our children, are being snuffed out under your watch? How can you smile and cut your cake when countless young souls are being lost, poisoned, and discarded in the very country you claim to lead?
In 2024 alone, over 200 children have died due to food poisoning linked to illegal spaza shops run by foreign nationals. In September, the Gauteng Department of Health reported that 207 food poisoning cases affecting children had been documented across the province since February, and 10 people have died. This isn't just a statistic, Mr. President. These are children, our future, whose lives have been taken from them far too soon. The rate of death has escalated at an appalling pace in the last six months, and yet, you have remained silent. Children in schools, in townships, in villages are being wiped out day by day. How many more children must die before you take action, Mr. President? How many more families must bury their children before you realise the gravity of this crisis?
These deaths are not happening in affluent neighbourhoods, Mr. President. These deaths are affecting the poor, the marginalised, the downtrodden, and the forgotten masses of our people, those who are most vulnerable, those who have been left behind by a government that has failed to protect them. These people have trusted you to lead them, but they are paying the ultimate price for your failure to act.
When these deaths came to light, your response was not one of outrage, not one of leadership. No, Mr. President, your response was to say that only the spaza shops directly implicated in the deaths should close. But how can you allow any of these deadly establishments to remain open? Every day that passes with these shops still trading is another death sentence for our people. The poison continues to flow into the hearts of our communities, and you, as head of state, have failed to stop it. Your failure to act has cost us dearly.
Over 200 South African children have already died this year from food purchased from these very shops, which you have allowed to operate with impunity. These are not just numbers. These are lives. These are families. These are futures destroyed because you have turned a blind eye to the problem. You have failed to protect our people. You have failed to protect the children of this nation.
And then you had the audacity to propose selective closures of only a few shops. But that is not enough, Mr. President. All illegal spaza shops must be closed. These businesses, which have been allowed to operate illegally and sell tainted goods, are not just killing children; they are undermining the economy of our nation, taking jobs away from our own citizens, and enriching those who have no concern for South African lives.
We never asked you to protect only the few. We never asked you to allow some shops to continue while others are shut down. What we have demanded, Mr. President, is for you to protect all South Africans. We demand that you close all illegal spaza shops, stop the poisoning of our children, and create opportunities for South African citizens to run legitimate businesses that serve the needs of our people. We demand action, not more excuses.
You have failed the people of this country. Your government has failed to protect its citizens. The law has been trampled. We, the people, demand accountability and justice. As the head of state, it is your duty to prioritise the safety and well-being of South Africans, especially our children. Your failure to do so is an unforgivable betrayal of the trust placed in you.
Mr. President, on your birthday, I urge you to stop ignoring the bloodshed on our streets. Stop ignoring the pain of grieving parents.
Stop pretend that the lives lost don't matter. You cannot continue to sit idly by as our children continue to die in your presence. You cannot continue to act as if the economic interests of a few are worth more than the lives of our children.
Enough is enough.
You must do what is right. You must protect South Africans. Close the illegal spaza shops. Let us take back our country. Let us reclaim our dignity. And let us begin to heal, not in the shadow of your failures, but in the light of real leadership.
We are not here to wish you well, Mr. President. We are here to demand action. Do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Mayibuye Melisizwe Mandela
Concerned Citizen of the Republic of South Africa
