Selling expired goods will not be tolerated

Lolo Madonsela

Spar in Louwsburg found itself under fire for selling expired goods to the community.
During one of the weekly activities by the Joint Operations Committee on Covid-19, it was discovered that the Spar did not just have expired good on its shelves, but was also not adhering to lockdown regulations that protect employees.
Employees did not have masks on and there were no hand sanitizers, yet the shop was selling masks.
There was no social distancing and the cleanliness of the shop was not satisfactory.
The store manager was reluctant when the JOC forced him to give employees masks. When asked why he kept expired goods on the shelves, he said it was the employees’ duty to ensure there were no expired goods on the shelves. The store manager got off with a warning, instead of a fine or an arrest. Some of the expired stock was taken as evidence by police.

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Louwsburg police revisited the store later the same day and found that workers had been given masks, and that the expired goods had been taken off the shelves.
The JOC agreed that whenever irregularities are found in supermarkets, arrests should be made immediately. The JOC continues to monitor all supermarkets to check prices and also ensure that they are adhering to lockdown regulations such as social distancing, the wearing of masks, and sanitizing customers and employees.
One supermarket was also found to have inflated prices. However, the JOC could not comment, as the matter is now in court.
The JOC will revisit all supermarkets in Vryheid every now and then to check on the level of compliance.

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