Shops raids result in closures
Two supermarkets, one in eMaXesibeni and the other in KwaBhaca, have been shut down this week after selling food that had expired.
Alfred Nzo district mayor Sixolile Mehlomakhulu led an inspection team of district health officials and police through the towns on Tuesday.
District municipal spokesperson Lixolile Petela said the operation had targeted shops that did not adhere to Covid-19 regulations, including ensuring customers sanitised their hands and wore masks.
He said to their dismay, the team discovered some shops had no sanitising practices for customers at the entrance and others practised no social distancing in queues.
He said those that had been closed would not be allowed to operate until they complied with the regulations.
In one shop, the products being sold past their sell-by dates included raw beef.
“We decided not to announce these visits to catch offenders unprepared and we must say this approach was very successful,” said Mehlomakhulu.
“We have been able to shut down shops that place people’s lives in jeopardy by not complying with Covid-19 regulations and by selling expired food. We have removed tonnes of food which would have resulted in harm to health.”
He said the idea was to send a strong message to other wouldbe offenders.
Among the confiscated food was frozen meat, mealie meal, flour, canned food and fruit.
The Dispatch was unable to establish the rand value of the confiscated food.
One of the closed shops had structural defects which placed both customers and workers at risk should it collapse.
Mehlomakhulu said they would continue inspections across the district to raise awareness among shop owners on the importance of food health standards and Covid-19 regulations.
The metro has opened several cases with the police