Thirteen food operating premises in Kariega were closed by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality last week, after business owners were found in breach of food safety regulations.
This comes as the municipality continues to tackle the on-going threat of food related diseases, working closely with other government stakeholders to safeguard the health and safety of all residents.
The successful operation focused on the busy lower Market Street where Executive Mayor, Cllr Eugene Johnson, led from the front accompanied by Public Health Mayoral Committee Member, Cllr Thsonono Buyeye, where they educated shop owners about the importance of complying with the law.
“The operation is not aimed at closing the shops of our African brothers from afar. We want to protect them against lawsuits and exploitation, and we do not want the communities to take matters into their own hands.
“We want business in the metropole, but it must be done in a legal manner because the safety of our communities is of paramount importance to us,” said Mayor Johnson.
“Some of these owners are blatantly breaking the law and even tampering with our infrastructure to steal water. In this regard, a R5 000 fine was issued by our Metro Police to the offenders.
“The conditions we have found were appalling. You find people operating shops without any certificate of acceptability when that rule is not even negotiable. If there is no certificate of acceptability, we must close the shop.
“A total of 13 shops were closed today and all the areas of concerns were highlighted to the offenders. We hope they fix the issues and get back to business,” said Mayor Johnson.
Other findings during the operation included: Excessive food storage with no ventilation on site; Storing and selling expired food to the public; Mixing of food items with cleaning products; Unlabelled food items in stock; Unhygienic and appalling waste management systems in place.
Deputy Director for Public Health, Dr Patrick Nodwele, said that the South African Police Services and Home Affairs formed part of the operation to attend to other crime related regulations.
“We detained suspected food items in two shops. Some had expired, there were defects in the packaging, while some products were not labelled. We inspected a total of 18 premises and issued warnings, where it was necessary,” said Dr Nodwele. “We found eight premises without waste removal services, and we want to issue a stern warning to all business owners that these operations will continue across the metropole. They must fix their businesses, as their illegal modus operandi have serious consequences for our communities.
“We have had consultations with the foreign nationals, as the idea is to form partnerships and consultative forums between the regulated community and government and to reduce instances where communities take the law into their own hands in relation to this sector. The forums will be used to heighten awareness of regulatory issues and to increase compliance until this sector attains stability,” said Dr Nodwele.
The municipality said they would continue to conduct the operations across the metropole, in both formal and informal business sectors.
– ISSUED: NMB MUNICIPALITY
