METRO PRESSES CHARGES AGAINST REPITITIVE NON-COMPLYING SPAZA SHOPS OWNERS
The Buffalo City Metro is stepping up its clampdown efforts against shop operators who are non-compliant with its Bylaws and reopen closed shops after receiving fines.
The Metro kickstarted its operations on the 8th of February conducting spaza shop raids twice a week through a multi-stakeholder joint operations to ensure that food premises comply with health and safety regulations.
Areas raided include Duncan Village, eQonce, Mdantsane, Nompumelelo and Mzamomhle. Issues mainly identified include shops having No temporal departures/ special consents to operate as businesses, No Certificate of Acceptability, No Business Licenses, No Fire Compliance, Expired foods, Non tax compliance and not having the correct emigration documents.
The Metro is now moving towards intensifying actions towards Shopkeepers who are not complying with the legislation and Prohibition Orders that are issued during Multistakeholder Operations. These are in the main issued for the contravention of Section 3. (1)(a) of Government Notice No. R638 of 22 June 2018, made under the FCD Act.
In most cases, the Prohibition Orders are ignored by the Shopkeepers who actually reopen their Shops- immediately after closure by Officials and that has led us to another step, which is Section 4 (3)(b), read with Section 15 of the same Regulation.
Further reference to Section 18. (1) of the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972).
To this effect, four dockets were therefore opened last Friday (8/03/2024) at the Nyibiba Police Station after an arrest of Shopkeepers. They appeared in a Mdantsane B Court yesterday, but were remanded in custody for further investigations. The outcome of these cases will set a precedent and the Metro will also be taking a lesson so as to improve operations. This will also ultimately equip BCM for when local r cases are administered and/ or adjudicated in an envisaged Municipal Court in the near future.
The raid operations are being conducted by the Metro’s Municipal Health Services together with various BCM Departments and the South African Police Services, SARS, Department of Employment & Labour, Home Affairs focusing on food premises including spaza shops, tshisanyamas etc to capacitate food business owners within the Metro on applicable requirements that should be complied with and to improve the compliance of food premises thereof.
The objective of the joint operations is to facilitate compliance and enforcement of legislative, by-laws and various policies across business as well as community settings in a consolidated manner by all responsible departments/stakeholders. The Metro identifies premises, that will conduct operations on and check for health and safety compliance, environmental and hygiene standards, license conditions, tax and emigration status.
2024-03-18