South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to deliver a national address as the country grapples with a wave of food poisoning deaths linked to local shops.

Government officials say 23 children have died and 441 suspected food poisoning cases have been recorded in Gauteng province alone since January.

The crisis has spread beyond Gauteng, with cases now reported in Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Free State provinces.

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters that the government has activated the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) to investigate the source of the poisonings.

The deaths have sparked calls for tighter regulation of spaza shops – small informal convenience stores common in South African townships.

“We are mobilising municipalities around a common agenda towards inclusive local economies and curbing illegal business operations in townships,” Ms Ntshavheni said.

The ruling African National Congress’s secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has called for all unregistered spaza shops to be closed until they meet legal requirements.

Local authorities in Gauteng, South Africa’s most populous province, have already announced new regulations for small shops in response to the crisis.

The date for President Ramaphosa’s address, which South Africans commonly refer to as a “family meeting”, has not yet been confirmed.

Such addresses became common during the Covid-19 pandemic when the president would announce major policy changes affecting public health and safety.