They visited tuck shops to remove expired stock that is still on the shelves, waiting to be bought by the customers.
The victims who buy the expired goods are those who cannot read and have no clue about an expiry date.
According to Superintendent Mkhonazi Moeketsi from KwaThema, the operation is done to ensure that the tuck shop owners in the townships comply with the municipality bylaws regarding the running of the tuck shops.
He explained that the expired goods that they have found in many tuck shops were baby products, bread, tea, rice and flour.
Moeketsi said all the expired goods that they found will be taken to one of the biggest municipality dumping sites in Nigel where they will be burnt to ashes.
He said the operation will continue until they have visited all the tuck shops in KwaThema.
“After this operation, we will come back again to ensure that no tuck shop sells expired goods to the public” said Mokoetsi.
One of Barcelona section residents in KwaThema, Bongiwe Mkhwanazi said she is happy that this kind of an operation is happening.
She said two years ago, her neighbours fell sick after eating an expired lucky star that they allegedly bought from a local tuck shop.
Mkhwanazi said because some of the senior citizens cannot read, they become the victims of buying expired goods from the tuck shops.
“Sometimes, even those who can read do buy expired goods because they did not think of checking the expiry date before buying it,” Mkhwanazi said.
She appealed to the community to ensure that they check for an expiry date before paying and leaving the tuck shop.
No tuck shop owner was willing to speak to the African Reporter regarding the operation.
