MEC does compliance checks at President Square

While health services in Mogale City spent the week testing and screening the community, the Gauteng Health Member of the Executive Council, Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi visited President Square to do compliance checks.

The News joined the MEC on Wednesday June 23 when she and her team, among them Environmental Compliance officers, visited the site to enforce compliance of non-pharmaceutical preventions like mask-wearing, social distancing and sanitizing.

When visiting the pop-up testing site, the MEC said it was good to see people coming out to test for Covid-19, adding that the more people were tested, the higher the number of confirmed cases could become. However, it is necessary to establish who needed to stay home and isolate.

After walking through the pop-up site she said they were also checking if the sanitizer that shops used were compliant as some just used a mixture of bleach and water.

“It is pointless to put a container at the door so that the shop looks compliant; the sanitizer needs to be up to standard. If a shop is found not to be compliant they can be issued with a warning or a fine immediately,” she explained.

The first shop they visited was Mugg & Bean, and the MEC noted that they had a list with patron details at the entrance.

“This is what we like to see. It is important to be able to trace all patrons at the restaurant,” she said referring to the list.

She added that the coffee shop was 100% compliant. The tables were spaced for social distancing, staff were wearing masks, and tables had sanitizer for the patrons to use.

She then walked through President Hyper as well where she was happy with the measures taken to keep their shoppers safe.