BOPHELONG. – Various local shops were visited on 12 February as part of ‘Operation Dudula’, which lasted around 3 hours.
Trying to dispute the expired date, the shop keeper said the meat was bought from the wholesaler as it is.
He was shown on a calendar that February has only 28 days. During the operation and most of the shops visited, it was discovered some of the food on the shelves had expired.
At the time of the operation there were no law enforcement agencies.
Oupa Radebe, member of the operation, said this was the beginning. “We did not want to empathize too much with the asylum seekers and other documents.
“Our next visits will see us inviting various law enforcement agencies.
“We did not want to close the shops, instead we requested that everyone comply,” said Radebe.
One of the shopkeepers assured the operation that they would comply. Some of the shop owners tried to reason that they bought the food a few days ago.
However, they did not check the expiry dates.