Shop owner arrested during Soweto food safety blitz
A South African shop owner and two of his employees were arrested in Soweto following inspections of several food outlets in the area.
Earlier this week, Gauteng Acting Premier Lebogang Maile led a food safety blitz targeting major retailers like Shoprite and Pick n Pay, focusing on the enforcement of bylaws.
The focus on food health and safety compliance shifted from local spaza shops to well-established outlets when Maile, alongside health inspectors, visited Supa Store, a well-known local business, leading to the arrest of the store owner and two Zimbabwean nationals employed there.
READ MORE: Food safety: Maile targets Soweto shops ahead of Xmas
The two employees were arrested on contravention of the Immigration Act.
Gauteng’s consumer affairs and compliance Chief Director Raymond Martin said they had noted that the employment of undocumented foreign nationals is common practice in the province.
“We are working closely with the Department of Labour to ensure that we root out this particular problem, to ensure that those who are employed in these stores are South Africans and not necessarily undocumented foreign nationals,” Martin said, “I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that there are many undocumented foreign nationals in all these establishments we have been visiting.”
Several food safety regulations were violated as expired, unlabelled food package and improper food storage was discovered on the shelves.
“We are very disappointed in what we found at these stores, one would assume that they will uphold the food safety standards because they are well-established businesses,” Maile said.
Officials also found rat droppings and rotten meat.
Maile said food outlets with expired goods will remain open, as their overall stock and business operations do not warrant closure.
The acting premier emphasized that stores cannot be closed solely for regulatory violations, as the province’s action is guided by the law.
“You cannot close a store because of one product that is a bad condition out of a thousand other products. What we are doing is within the law and we are going to do follow-up because we definitely do not want unfortunate incidents that we have seen in the last months were children lost their lives.”
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa has directed informal food handlers and outlets to register their establishments, warning that failure to do so will result in their closure. This follows the classification of foodborne illnesses linked to food poisoning as a national disaster.
The registration deadline has been extended to February next year, instead of the original December 17 date.
ALSO READ
