In a televised evening address to the nation, Ramaphosa said shops implicated in deaths of the children would be closed immediately and local authorities had to clean up piles of garbage that were leading to rat infestations.

There had been 890 reported incidents of food-born illnesses since the start of September 2024, with at least 22 children killed in the past few weeks, he said.

In a case that has caused a major outcry, six young children died in Johannesburg's Soweto last month after eating chips from an informal shop known as a spaza.

Many spaza shops in South Africa are run by foreign nationals, including from Ethiopia and Pakistan, and the deaths prompted a xenophobic backlash.

A chip packet found on one of the dead children was found to have traces of a pesticide called Terbufos that is registered for agricultural but not general use, Ramaphosa said.

To get hazardous pesticides off the street, "a massive campaign of door to door inspection of all spaza shops, tuck shops and other informal traders will be undertaken," the president said.

"Any shop that is not registered within 21 days and does not meet all health standards and requirements will be closed."

In some cases, this chemical and others were in use because poor waste collection by local authorities was leading to rat infestations, Ramaphosa said.

"Our local municipalities will be required to take urgent action to address the problem of rat infestations by cleaning cities and towns and removing waste," he said.