Blitz on illegal business practices
Durban, Isipingo shops targeted
BUSINESS owners have resorted to keeping cats in their shops as a means of pest control.
This was among the findings of health and safety officials after a blitz last week, where fines of almost R100 000 were issued in the Durban and Isipingo CBDs.
The operation, held in the lead-up to World Consumer Rights Day on Friday, also led to the arrest of 15 foreigners who did not have their papers on them.
During a report-back on the week’s activities, officials from the National Consumer Commission (NCC), National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, and National Consumer Tribunal, among others, heard that fines totalling R32 000 had been issued in Isipingo, while fines of R63400 were imposed on 54 premises in the Durban city centre.
Thirty-nine notices and summonses to appear in court were also handed out.
Tshepiso Selepe, of the NCC, told officials that goods valued at R250000 had been confiscated.
“This week’s operation went tremendously well. We are aiming at fighting consumer exploitation and we are winning by not allowing businesses to take advantage of our consumers.
“We saw some horrible things, where cats were used as pest control, staff did not have proper or working toilets and rotten and expired frozen meat was being sold.”
At one shop, he said, fungus and mould were evident on sweets, and alcohol was being sold at an unlicensed general dealer.
In the overall report, some of the challenges faced included counterfeit and expired foods and goods being sold; operating without business licences; and the posting of unlawful signs like “no refund, no exchangeand no return”. Staff and homeless people were also sleeping at shops and factories.
The commissioner of the NCC, Ebrahim Mohamed, said that given its limited resources it was impossible to investigate every complaint, but highlighted the importance of educating consumers on their rights.
Consumer protection workshops were held in areas including uMlazi, KwaMashu and Hammarsdale.
joined the blitz on Thursday, where expired seasoning and spice were among the confiscated products.
Representatives from various municipal departments, including health, water, electricity, and economic tourism, as well as building inspectors and the metro police, were present to monitor business compliance.
The stench from a blocked sewer caused many of the officials to block their noses as they exited their vehicles near Progress Centre on Phila Ndwandwe Road in Isipingo.
Officials from the water and sanitation departments worked immediately on removing the blockage.
The staff at a shawarma shop in the Isipingo CBD admitted to health and safety officials that the extraction system did not work and that they changed the frying oil only every three days.
The employees were found chopping onions and tomatoes without gloves and their shoes were stored on pallets alongside the potatoes. The floor was also slippery with oil.
The owner was fined R4 000 for not having a business licence, the premises’ dirty condition, the non-functioning extraction system and for not having a proper storage area to keep food items.
A nearby salon owner said she did not have a business licence and access to piped water. She said they bought bottled water for their operational needs.
Barbed wire was found out in the open and sharp wood stuck out of a room at a hardware store. The owner and staff fled, which meant the officials could not issue the fine.
A grocery store was ordered to remove defrosting chicken and burgers from an open fridge and place them in a freezer, and they were fined R4 000 for, among other violations, failing to properly store and maintain the food and dirty conditions.
In the storeroom, bags of sugar that had been stored on pallets had been ripped open. It was believed rats had gnawed at them.
The manager denied this, saying it was a result of a transporting machine rubbing against the packaging.
Blocks of open margerine, maas and other frozen products that had been damaged were being stored in a freezer with other packaged goods. A manager said they had been waiting for a supplier to pick up the damaged products.
In the delivery area, mouldy bread was stacked in crates for the supplier to pick up, and mounds of rubbish were visible.
They have been given a week to clean the premises or they will be issued with a fine.
Another grocery store was deemed clean.