Suspected counterfeit food, expired consumables, electricity theft, alleged undocumented workers and illegal dumping of rubbish.
These were some of the discoveries made by Nelson Mandela Bay officials during a spaza shop blitz in Kwazakhele on Thursday.
The crackdown came as Ward 19 councillor Gamalihleli Maqula filed a motion on April 10 regarding the city’s dwindling revenue collection rate due to electricity theft.
The municipality has been grappling with electricity losses for years, amounting to millions of rand.
Maqula’s motion was meant to be debated at Wednesday’s council meeting but was deferred.
His ward includes parts of Kwazakhele.
The municipal operation involved officials from various departments, including electricity, safety and security, public health and waste management.
The police, immigration services and Sars also joined.
According to Maqula’s motion, the ward has 23 spaza shops, with 80% having been found with tampered electricity meters or tapped into electricity poles on the streets
Among the shops visited, all had illegal electricity connections, and five people were taken in by immigration officials for not having proper documents.
Others had expired papers, with some suspected to be fake.
The foreign nationals were taken in to verify their status.
At the shops, residents watched officials find suspected counterfeit branded tinned food such as Lucky Star and Koo beans, along with expired soft drinks and potato crisps.
The suspected counterfeit food and expired consumables were confiscated.
Electricity wires were dangling inside the shops, with mouse and cat faeces evident among food items at one of the outlets.
Most owners slept in the same room where the food was stored, with inadequate ventilation.
Illegal connections were disconnected.
At the first shop, Step Up, officials found expired food, and no meter inside.
The shop is on the property of Sonwabo Mnyanda, who was fined R2,000 for illegal dumping and a separate R100 penalty for failing to provide adequate rubbish storage.
Mnyanda lives in a house on the property. He leases a section of the property, which includes the shop.
The unidentified shop owner was taken in to verify his status as his immigration papers had expired.
The shop and house were illegally connected to an electricity pole outside.
The tinned food was suspected to be counterfeit and dairy products such as milk and eggs had expired.
Mnyanda said the property caught fire in 2021 and he was not able to install a meter.
“The house was left to me by my late mother and due to unemployment I allowed foreign nationals to build a structure which they can operate the shop from.”
The shop was built without a building plan or approval from the municipality.
Mnyanda was given 21 days to submit a building plan or the municipality would take him to court.
Sese Shop owner Bashir Osman was found with an asylum seeker permit that expired in August.
Expired soft drinks and tinned foods were discovered during the inspection.
Osman and another person were taken in to have their immigration status verified.
“This is what I usually produce when officials visit us. They normally let me go.
“I don’t understand why we are being taken in but I hope we will return,” Osman said.
Public health officials expressed concerns about a foul odour and the unhygienic practice of the owner sleeping in the same room as his stored food.
Cat and mouse droppings were found among the food items, highlighting the unsanitary conditions.
His electricity supply was connected to an electricity pole outside.
Makhelwane shop owner James Mohamed only had a picture of an SA identity document.
Mohamed was taken in to verify his status along with a worker, who did not have immigration papers.
“I don’t know where the original ID is. But I promise I am here legally and the officials will soon find out when they verify my status,” he said.
“As for my worker, I did not know he did not have his papers with him.”
When the officials arrived, some tinned food and other items had already been removed from the shelves.
The officials confiscated some of the remaining food items that had expired.
The shop’s electricity connection was illegally connected to the property of a neighbour whose meter had been tampered with.
According to a lawyer from Brand Hold Attorneys, counterfeit food poses a nationwide risk, with syndicates producing imitation products and falsely labelling them as reputable and trusted brands.
He declined to be named.
“The problem is that we do not know what they put in the products when they are being manufactured, which is a health risk for communities and tarnishes the names of original brands,” he said.
“These products are mostly found in low-income areas. These manufacturers will not sell to retailers because it is a risk if they are caught.”
Maqula said the metro needed to conduct inspections regularly.
“Judging from what we found, they still are transgressing the law for the same things.”
In the motion, Maqula said the municipality was battling with rampant electricity theft across the city.
“As you are aware, we projected a budget deficit of R1.2bn in respect of electricity sales for the next financial year,” he said.
“In these circumstances, the metro cannot afford to remain idle given the threat presented by this scenario on our financial sustainability.
“Equally concerning is the revenue collection rate of the municipality which stands at 75.1% at the end of February 2024.”
He said the city could not afford to delay the implementation of an institutional approach to address its revenue collection challenges.
In the motion, Maqula wants acting city manager Luvuyo Magalela to:
- Introduce and execute an action plan to combat electricity theft, tampering and losses;
- Implement a strategy to enhance revenue collection through sustained blitz operations supported by multiple directorates;
- Regularly report to the council on the progress and achievements of interventions across directorates;
- Enforce mandatory registration for all unregistered shops as legitimate business entities, with immediate billing to start; and
- Take swift action to disconnect and fine businesses engaged in electricity theft.
Mayor Gary van Niekerk said the importance of compliance enforcement could not be overstated as food sold at spaza shops could potentially affect the health of consumers.
He said selling counterfeit products affected the sales of original product manufacturers and distributors.
“We take our responsibility as a government to create a conducive environment for our residents and legitimate business enterprises very seriously.
“We want consumers to confidently spend their hard-earned money on quality products and nourishing food products.
“The fact that illegal electricity connections were discovered is further proof that we need to continue the enforcement of our bylaws and involve other government entities during these compliance programmes.
“Follow-up visits to the sites where illegal electricity connections were discovered must follow to ensure that the municipality benefits from those electricity sales.”
HR1904, PG1, 2nd: Suspected counterfeit food, electricity theft uncovered during Bay blitz
Image: WERNER HILLS
Suspected counterfeit food, expired consumables, electricity theft, alleged undocumented workers and illegal dumping of rubbish.
These were some of the discoveries made by Nelson Mandela Bay officials during a spaza shop blitz in Kwazakhele on Thursday.
The crackdown came as Ward 19 councillor Gamalihleli Maqula filed a motion on April 10 regarding the city’s dwindling revenue collection rate due to electricity theft.
The municipality has been grappling with electricity losses for years, amounting to millions of rand.
Maqula’s motion was meant to be debated at Wednesday’s council meeting but was deferred.
His ward includes parts of Kwazakhele.
The municipal operation involved officials from various departments, including electricity, safety and security, public health and waste management.
The police, immigration services and Sars also joined.
According to Maqula’s motion, the ward has 23 spaza shops, with 80% having been found with tampered electricity meters or tapped into electricity poles on the streets
Among the shops visited, all had illegal electricity connections, and five people were taken in by immigration officials for not having proper documents.
Others had expired papers, with some suspected to be fake.
The foreign nationals were taken in to verify their status.
At the shops, residents watched officials find suspected counterfeit branded tinned food such as Lucky Star and Koo beans, along with expired soft drinks and potato crisps.
The suspected counterfeit food and expired consumables were confiscated.
Electricity wires were dangling inside the shops, with mouse and cat faeces evident among food items at one of the outlets.
Most owners slept in the same room where the food was stored, with inadequate ventilation.
Illegal connections were disconnected.
At the first shop, Step Up, officials found expired food, and no meter inside.
The shop is on the property of Sonwabo Mnyanda, who was fined R2,000 for illegal dumping and a separate R100 penalty for failing to provide adequate rubbish storage.
Mnyanda lives in a house on the property. He leases a section of the property, which includes the shop.
The unidentified shop owner was taken in to verify his status as his immigration papers had expired.
The shop and house were illegally connected to an electricity pole outside.
The tinned food was suspected to be counterfeit and dairy products such as milk and eggs had expired.
Mnyanda said the property caught fire in 2021 and he was not able to install a meter.
“The house was left to me by my late mother and due to unemployment I allowed foreign nationals to build a structure which they can operate the shop from.”
The shop was built without a building plan or approval from the municipality.
Mnyanda was given 21 days to submit a building plan or the municipality would take him to court.
Sese Shop owner Bashir Osman was found with an asylum seeker permit that expired in August.
Expired soft drinks and tinned foods were discovered during the inspection.
Osman and another person were taken in to have their immigration status verified.
“This is what I usually produce when officials visit us. They normally let me go.
“I don’t understand why we are being taken in but I hope we will return,” Osman said.
Public health officials expressed concerns about a foul odour and the unhygienic practice of the owner sleeping in the same room as his stored food.
Cat and mouse droppings were found among the food items, highlighting the unsanitary conditions.
His electricity supply was connected to an electricity pole outside.
Makhelwane shop owner James Mohamed only had a picture of an SA identity document.
Mohamed was taken in to verify his status along with a worker, who did not have immigration papers.
“I don’t know where the original ID is. But I promise I am here legally and the officials will soon find out when they verify my status,” he said.
“As for my worker, I did not know he did not have his papers with him.”
When the officials arrived, some tinned food and other items had already been removed from the shelves.
The officials confiscated some of the remaining food items that had expired.
The shop’s electricity connection was illegally connected to the property of a neighbour whose meter had been tampered with.
According to a lawyer from Brand Hold Attorneys, counterfeit food poses a nationwide risk, with syndicates producing imitation products and falsely labelling them as reputable and trusted brands.
He declined to be named.
“The problem is that we do not know what they put in the products when they are being manufactured, which is a health risk for communities and tarnishes the names of original brands,” he said.
“These products are mostly found in low-income areas. These manufacturers will not sell to retailers because it is a risk if they are caught.”
Maqula said the metro needed to conduct inspections regularly.
“Judging from what we found, they still are transgressing the law for the same things.”
In the motion, Maqula said the municipality was battling with rampant electricity theft across the city.
“As you are aware, we projected a budget deficit of R1.2bn in respect of electricity sales for the next financial year,” he said.
“In these circumstances, the metro cannot afford to remain idle given the threat presented by this scenario on our financial sustainability.
“Equally concerning is the revenue collection rate of the municipality which stands at 75.1% at the end of February 2024.”
He said the city could not afford to delay the implementation of an institutional approach to address its revenue collection challenges.
In the motion, Maqula wants acting city manager Luvuyo Magalela to:
Mayor Gary van Niekerk said the importance of compliance enforcement could not be overstated as food sold at spaza shops could potentially affect the health of consumers.
He said selling counterfeit products affected the sales of original product manufacturers and distributors.
“We take our responsibility as a government to create a conducive environment for our residents and legitimate business enterprises very seriously.
“We want consumers to confidently spend their hard-earned money on quality products and nourishing food products.
“The fact that illegal electricity connections were discovered is further proof that we need to continue the enforcement of our bylaws and involve other government entities during these compliance programmes.
“Follow-up visits to the sites where illegal electricity connections were discovered must follow to ensure that the municipality benefits from those electricity sales.”