In the wake of the six children who died last week from suspected food poisoning in Naledi, Soweto, the City of Johannesburg MMC for Health and Social Development, Ennie Makhafola, confirmed that the city is facing a shortage of health inspectors.
This is after the DA revealed that the health inspector shortage was due to budget cuts in the metro’s Health and Social Development cluster.
“Yes, the city does indeed have a shortage of health inspectors,” said Makhafola.
According to the DA's member of the Gauteng Legislature, Nazley Sharif, this discovery was made last Thursday during a meeting with the Joburg municipality’s regional director, Sello Lemao, and other officials.
“The regional director stated that the operational budget for health and social development was R100 million 12 years ago, but has been reduced to R49m.
“According to him, this has led to a shortage of resources and capacity, with 16 health inspectors covering 19 wards. Some inspectors oversee more than one ward, which is nowhere near the world health standards of having one inspector per 10 000 people.
“Furthermore, the City of Johannesburg delegation admitted a lack of enforcement for by-laws,” said Sharif.
The DA recently held an oversight inspection and found that spaza shops near the schools that the children attended – Karabo Primary School and Khauhelo Primary School – were not compliant with health and safety regulations.
Aligning with the DA’s oversight investigation, the National Consumer Commission (NCC), the Gauteng Office of Consumer Affairs, the provincial Department of Economic Development (GDED), and health inspectors from Joburg municipality have been raiding local tuck-shops in the same area since Monday.
The GDED said the spaza shops were not compliant with the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) after inspectors found illegal counterfeit products, expired food and medication, and other health violations and infringements.
Non-compliant spaza shops were shut down, while contraband was confiscated to be destroyed.
The GDED urged local communities to refrain from purchasing at non-compliant tuck shops.
“We urge our local communities to stop buying from these sorts of shops as they do not comply with regulations or sell safe, tested, and reliable products.
“Please avoid these sorts of establishments and stop allowing them to rent space in your yards as illegal foreign nationals hide out and live in these spaza shops. Those who are found will be arrested,” said the GDED.
Health inspections will continue for the rest of the week to check if tuckshop owners are compliant with food regulations.
Furthermore, Sharif accused the metro of gross negligence as health inspector shortages continued to prevail.
She said the DA is demanding an open inquiry to investigate the ongoing case regarding the children who allegedly died from food poisoning.
“We demand that the city get its act together, prioritise health inspections and provide adequate resources for environmental health officials to perform their duties. This is a serious issue, and the city should allocate sufficient funds to ensure enough boots on the ground to handle it,” said Sharif.
However, Makhafola refuted these accusations, maintaining that the metro is clamping down on non-compliant food stores.
“The health inspectors still inspect spaza shops and other food handling premises. The Environmental Health is conducting blitzes in spaza shops and food manufacturers regularly across all seven regions,” said Makhafola.
She added that the metro’s health ministry planned to rid itself of non-compliant tuck shops by continuing to inspect all food premises including spaza shops to ensure compliance with health regulations.
The Star