Bread baked near loo

THE department of health found a bakery that was operated illegally in Giyani on Friday during a routine inspection and officials were shocked at the circumstances in which the bread was baked.

Officials discovered the bread was prepared and baked in a filthy room that the four workers on duty also used as a bathroom, store room and bedroom.

“We were shocked to discover people used the same room that they baked their bread in as a toilet,” said Thelma Mlambo, acting manager of the Mopani environmental health services.

She said the officials went into the building to conduct a routine check to see whether the building complied with basic health and safety standards and never expected to find the circumstances that they did.

Mlambo explained that there was also no running water available at this bakery, except the water in the toilet that was in the same room.

“We have no idea where they got the water from to make the bread. It is clear that they only baked this bread to distribute to poor communities at cheap prices and did not eat the bread themselves,” she said.

Despite the shocking findings, the bakery owner escaped with only a warning. Mlambo said she decided to give him the opportunity to bring his establishment up to standard.

She said the owner claimed that he was unaware that he needed a permit to run a bakery.

When asked why he operated in such filthy conditions, the owner said he did not have the cash flow to establish a proper bakery immediately and was still in the process of bringing the building up to code.

“I rent this place and have only been here for two months,” he said, thanking Mlambo for her leniency.

“We thought we should give him the benefit of doubt and only shut down his bakery and confiscate his bread instead of opening a case against him, since he said he was not aware of the specifications and was in the process of setting up a proper structure,” said Mlambo.

She urged the bakery owner to build a proper structure before he could go the department’s offices to apply for a permit that he would use to run his bakery.

“We will then come to to an inspection before that permit will be granted,” she said.