Tshwane to address concerns of hygiene, food safety at CBD market
"The toilets there are not properly maintained as there is sewage overflowing in the market daily. In addition, there are no proper security measures in place at the market."
The metro is planning to upgrade the Tshwane fresh produce market in the Pretoria CBD in order to address worries about hygiene, food safety and Covid-19 at the facilities.
“An upgrade is planned for these facilities in the 2020/21 financial year,” said Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo.
According to Mashigo, the market has been allocated R6.4-million for capital expenditure in the financial year in question for assisting with areas such as upgrades.
“The planned upgrade will replace old coils, etc. in the ripening rooms.”
He said areas such as the layout and use of the market sales halls would be redesigned to provide ‘a friendly and safer environment for users’.
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“A project is also presently underway for buyer payments such as electronic fund transfers or bank deposits to be automatically processed to their buyer account. This will enable them to carry out purchases immediately, without having to wait for the deposit to be manually processed.”
This came after the market came under criticism by the DA for allegedly having no system in place to monitor any of the produce that arrived at the market. It also had no proper hygiene control measures in place and was suffering issues around safety, security, infrastructure development and maintenance, according to the party.
“The challenges at the market are extremely concerning given that the entire country is battling to curb the spread of Covid-19,” said DA Gauteng agriculture and rural development spokesperson Ina Cilliers.
Cilliers said the DA has received dozens of letters from prominent producers and buyers detailing their concerns and offering assistance to improve conditions at the market. Letters were received from commercial concerns such as the Institute of Markets Agents of SA, Fruit and Veg City, Pretoria Stall Holders Association and others. She said towards the end of June, the market had also fallen victim to Covid-19.
“The market was closed due to a positive case. Farmers were turned away with virtually no notice and perishable produce was left abandoned on the market floor,” said Cilliers.
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Cilliers further said the fresh produce market did not have proper public toilet facilities.
“The toilets there are not properly maintained as there is sewage overflowing in the market daily. In addition, there are no proper security measures in place at the market.”
There are also no proper cold storage and ripening facilities at the market. This means that the fresh produce producers will be at the losing end as they will not be able to keep their produce fresh.
She said the market was not compliant with health and safety standards, adding the problem appeared to be the business model and institutional arrangements at the market.
“This is a problem that is well within the mandate and capabilities of the city administrators, or eventually the council to solve if the only political will existed.”
Cilliers has also since urged the Tshwane administrators to urgently intervene at the market. Mashigo admitted that the market faces challenges in maintenance backlogs and staffing.
“They are being attended to and issues will be rectified.”
Addressing the allegations, Mashigo said the market had a dedicated market safety services unit to protect visitors and the market.
“The market has programmes in place to comply with health and safety standards.”
He said the metro had revised the organisational structure to provide additional manpower at the entrances of the market. This was in aims to record all deliveries that entered the market. Mashigo said issues of hygiene measures for Covid-19 were also already in place.
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“All persons who enter the market’s facilities are required to have their hands sanitised, wear their face marks and are screened to determine what their temperature is.”
He said public toilet facilities were cleaned daily but faced ‘constant abuse from visitors’. He said the issue of overflowing sewage was attended to immediately and was not a daily occurrence.
Mashigo said the cold storage and ripening facilities were functional. The market was also attending to the repairs and maintenance of some of the rooms in the cold storage and ripening facilities.
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