Picture: South African Police Service
The Hawks’ Secunda-based Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit and the South African Police Service’s (Saps) Charl Cillier Police Station have arrested a farmer for allegedly repackaging rotten food for human consumption.
This follows a tip-off from “a reliable source”.
According to police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Magonseni Nkosi, the 30-year-old farmer allegedly repacked expired and rotten food for delivery to different retailers destined for human consumption.
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He collected the food from chain stores and other distributors and told them it was for his domestic animals.
When the Hawks and Govern Mbeki Local Municipality Health Inspectors team visited the farm, they found two warehouses packed with food unfit for human consumption.
They found four cold rooms filled with expired canned products, rotten red meat and chicken, and about 1 000 crates fully loaded with expired dairy products, including cheese products.
A truck fitted with a cold room, two light delivery vehicles, one loaded with meat and an empty bakkie were also found.
The vehicles will be the subject of an investigation.
Police said seven freezers were found in the warehouses, where the repackaged wheat, flower, and maize meal were stored.
Equipment used for vacuuming, scales and plastic sealers were found on the scene.
They recovered items, including stickers and pricing machines, which were believed to be used for the repackaging.
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“It is a massive blow to the packager as these products were destined for unsuspecting end users. Food so packaged poses a huge risk to communities,” said the Mpumalanga Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Major General Nico Gerber.
The Department of Health and the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJoints) are currently treating food poisoning cases as a national security threat.
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This follows the deaths of children across the country after they consumed unsafe food from spaza shops and other food retailers.
On 15 November, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that all spaza shops must be registered with their respective municipalities in an attempt to curb the cases.
At the time, Ramaphosa gave spaza shop owners 21 days to register their businesses. The deadline was later postponed to 28 February 2025, following requests by spaza shop owners, who said the deadline was too close.
At least 51 000 food-handling businesses applied for registration.
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