SEBOKENG.- Customers were fuming when they saw perishable and rotten food being discovered by Gauteng acting MEC for Social Department, Panyaza Lesufi and MEC for Safety, Faith Mazibuko during a surprise raid at the Thabong Shopping Center in Sebokeng on Wednesday.
The pair were joined by Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM) MMC for Health, Zaza Raikane and her counterpart at Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) Jan Moshoadiba, Sedibeng District Health officials, South African Police Services (SAPS) members and Immigration Department officials.
The operation lasted for three hours before the delegation drove to Vaal Mall in Vanderbijlpark.
The raid, in Sebokeng, was part of a project to ensure that Covid -19 regulations are being observed at shopping centers and malls around Gauteng. This discovery represented a tip of an iceberg as numerous shops were also found guilty of selling expired food at very low prices. The delegation was astonished to learn that big name stores were some of those included in the transgressions of the regulations.
They also saw that big fridges being used to store products were very rusty and that displays were still in some stores for the sale of sorghum beer malt, MEC Mazibuko immediately told one of the stores’ manager to remove them.
In other cases the delegation discovered that at least three traders were using a fraudulent permit.
They were immediately told to pack their stuff and leave.
“Township shops are where people mostly meet and that is where we make sure that there is compliance. Every shop has to be decontaminated at least three times a day. We have visited many stores and mostly sell expired food that has already been packed (disguised),” she said.
Mazibuko said that the delegation found expired cooking oil at Spar, “Meat was rotten and they wanted to make an excuse about no electric. It was not the first time we hear about these shops with expired food. At Boxer we found Mtombo Mmela used to make traditional alcohol in open shelves. Informal traders were also selling items which are forbidden. There was even one trader who used a permit from Katlehong in Erkhuruleni,” she added.
Mazibuko said that the government is worried about the surge of Covid-19 and that it was worrying that there were a lot of people in the shopping centers as the maximum number was supposed to be 500.
“We are worried as the numbers of those infected increases daily. We have to fight this Covid-19. Let’s stick to the number, remember we managed to close schools and churches to practice safety.”
