EXECUTIVE MAYOR INTENSIFIES ILLEGAL SPAZA SHOP CLAMPDOWN OPERATION
Published: November 13, 2024<< BACK TO NEWS
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Following a Spaza clampdown operation led by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) Executive Mayor, Cllr Babalwa Lobishe and Mayoral Committee member for Public Health, Cllr Buyeye, four undocumented nationals were detained by Metro Police and one was arrested. Large amounts of expired food, illegally sold medication, cosmetics and fireworks were confiscated and related fines issued to the transgressors early this morning in KwaZakhele.
The raids continue to intensify after Executive Mayor Lobishe made an impassioned call that all hands must be on deck to collectively tackle the scourge of Spaza shops who continue to flout bylaws, immigration laws, occupational health and safety regulations, and labor relations laws that place Nelson Mandela residents at the mercy of health and safety risks.
"We are determined to ensure food for human consumption is safe, meets acceptable optimal hygiene control, acceptable microbiological, and chemical standards, said Mayor Lobishe. Together with the MMC for Public Health, NMBM staff, SAPS, Department of Home Affairs, and the residents, we are working together to ensure we continue to conduct daily inspections, and intensify oversight over spaza shops that do not meet the regulatory requirements of our country”, she added.
Most inspected Spaza shops were found not to meet health and safety requirements. Some of the spaza shops operate in spaces that do not have municipal zoning rights, some don’t meet formal waste removal requirements. In some instances, the inspected spaza’s operate through illegal electricity connections and are in rates and taxes arrears of over R100 000 each.
The Executive Mayor noted that she’ll work hard to ensure that Council urgently passes a bylaw that equips the Municipality with teeth to effectively deal with illegally operating Spaza shops in the Metro. She also urged the Spaza shops owners to comply, operate within the prescribed regulations and laws as they play an important role in the township retail economic sector.
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