- The Khayelitsha Health Forum (KHF) is planning sting operations to address the sale and dumping of expired food by spaza shops.
- KHF Chair Mzanywa Ndibongo emphasised the need for spaza shops to comply with health regulations.
- Local authorities, including police and health inspectors, responded to the dumping incident, ensuring expired goods were safely disposed of.
As the deadline for spaza shops to register with the municipality looms, the Khayelitsha Health Forum (KHF) plans to conduct sting operations in the area.
The announcement follows the discovery of expired food dumped in a shipping container used for communal dumping, at SST informal settlement in Japhta Masemola Road on Tuesday 19 November.
Mzanywa Ndibongo, KHF chair, described the dumping of expired food in the public spaces as worrisome.
He said the forum intends to launch a mass campaign directed at officials of the City and provincial departments of health.
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“We want everything to go smoothly, and that is why we are calling on the officials to be part of the campaign,” said Ndibongo, adding that the exact date would be confirmed in due course. “We know that perhaps some landlords and extortionists may give us some problems since they are benefiting from the spaza shops.”
He said the selling of expired food by the spaza shops is a cause for concern and requires urgent intervention.
However, he was not sure if the food was dumped by spaza-shop owners or some of the supermarkets since the KHF had heard of pending raids and the registration of the spaza shops.
On Friday 15 November President Cyril Ramaphosa announced stringent measures to regulate spaza shops amid a surge in cases of food poisoning incidents across the country. Among other things, he called for all the spazas to be registered with the municipalities in 21 days, ending on Friday 6 December.
Ndibongo said the KHF had roped in the health departments to ensure the shops complied with the necessary health regulations in light of the announcement.
He stated that the forum’s job is to ensure the government enforced the law. “The majority of the shops in our communities are operating in residential houses.
“This is a major challenge. We warn all the landlords and extortionists to stop interfering in [the registration] processes.”
After all, he pointed out, some of the foreign-owned shops do not have the necessary documentation to run their business and are not tax-compliant.
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Provincial police spokesperson Capt FC van Wyk confirmed the discovery of expired foodstuff. “On Tuesday 19 November, at 09:30, Makhaza police officers and Crime Prevention Unit responded to information received of Spaza owners dumping expired stock (food/groceries) in a dumping container at SST in Town Two area.
“Councillors and the community were concerned as children had reportedly attempted to take the discarded food items. The police officers collected the discarded food items for safety reasons and booked them in at Makhaza Police Station as abandoned,” said Van Wyk.
He said health inspectors were contacted. They also visited the scene and arrangements were made to discard the expired food items in the proper way. “No arrests have been made,” Van Wyk said.
Mayco member for Community Services Patricia Van der Ross said the City was aware of the incident. She said environmental-health practitioners were also alerted.
“Among the items were maize meal, sweets, snacks and noodles. There were no perishable items among the items found. The City would like to caution against the persistent references to ‘expired’ food. It is important to note that there is no provision for ‘expired food’ in the current South African Labelling Regulations. These do, however, dictate that all foodstuffs have a clearly indicated date marking on the label.”
She added that with regard to shelf stable goods (items that do not require refrigeration) the food items could still be safe to use but the nutritional value may diminish after the sell-by date.
