Date: 2024-11-22 09:18:49
City launches compliance campaign for spaza shops amid health concerns
Enforcement to ensure compliance at spaza and tuck shops is underway in the City.
IN response to the rising public health concerns and recent fatalities linked to contaminated food, the City’s Health Unit is set to implement a comprehensive multidisciplinary operational campaign. The campaign will target compliance monitoring and enforcement in spaza shops and tuck shops across eThekwini Municipality. This comes amid the growing need for government to regulate these informal food outlets, with many attributing the recent spate of health issues to the sale of expired and counterfeit goods. Head of the City’s Health Unit Rose Van Heerden emphasised the need for both enforcement and public education as part of the campaign, which will take place over the next two months. “Before we can enforce regulations, we must educate tuck shop owners about health standards.
The continued sale of unsafe food items poses a risk, especially to vulnerable children in our communities. We need to engage with those who sell to schools, be it tuck shops or individuals, about practicing good safety standards and basic food hygiene,” said Van Heerden. The campaign will cover various areas including KwaNyuswa, Embo, Molweni, KwaDabeka, Wybank, Hillcrest, Waterfall, and uMlazi, with teams from Environmental Health Services, Metro Police, SAPS, and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development collaborating to ensure safety and compliance.
From Januray 2024 until September, the Health Unit has conducted over 600 inspections and more than 700 enforcement actions across its three sub-districts. Last November, in a similar operation, authorities condemned hundreds of food items from over 80 tuck shops in Pinetown and surrounding areas. The Health Unit’s campaign aims not only to enforce compliance but also to educate business owners and the public about safe food practices, thereby safeguarding community health and well-being.
To protect public health, the teams will check food expiry dates to prevent the sale of expired goods. “We have previously closed shops that had no legal documents to operate a shop. We are going to do that this time around as well. Our law enforcement partners will arrest undocumented individuals who do not present required business permits, the shutdown of illegal establishments, and the issuance of compliance notices and fines for any by-law violations,” said Van Heerden. Residents are encouraged to remain vigilant when purchasing food from informal vendors and to report any concerns regarding product safety to the appropriate authorities. Complaints can be directed to the City on 031 311 3555 or via WhatsApp on 083 560 3974.