MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Mossel Bay Advertiser received a complaint from a member of the public that a political party representative was visiting spaza shops owned by foreigners to see if their shops were registered and whether the foreigners were in the country legally and had the correct documentation.
The person said the party member was confiscating expired foodstuffs. The person questioned whether the party had the authority to do this, complaining that the party representative did not provide identification or papers to the shop owners.
The goods were then dumped behind a police station, the person alleged.
It turned out that the person being accused of this was Patriotic Alliance (PA) party councillor in the Mossel Bay Municipality, Faizel Porter.
The Advertiser contacted Mossel Bay Municipality to find out if it was aware of these allegations against Porter. The municipal spokesperson said an investigation in this regard was under way, so the municipality could not comment.
KwaNonqaba Police spokesperson Kappie Kapp said nothing had been dumped behind the police station.
National directive
In response to the Advertiser's enquiry regarding all these allegations, Marlon Daniels, national chairman of the Patriotic Alliance, said Porter had acted according to a directive from the party's national chairman, Gayton McKenzie.
Nationally, PA councillors were visiting spaza shops and undertaking the actions described. Daniels said Porter had acted correctly and was a disciplined member of the party.
"We are proud of Councillor Porter. Had he not followed instructions, I would have personally gone to Mossel Bay and removed him from his post as a councillor."
Daniels said most people did not have money to take a taxi or car and shop at Woolworths, for example. They relied on grant money and spaza shops on their street corner.
"Spaza shops are known for selling expired goods. Unsuspecting buyers, some of them visually impaired, cannot read the fine print on packaging. Then end up being sick from consuming expired goods."
Due diligence
"Shop owners buy goods nearing their expiry dates in bulk, because they are cheap and sold at cost price or slightly above.
"Foreign nationals club together and go and buy in bulk. They have buyers' forums. They buy so much that they have not managed to sell all the stock before the expiry date and they cannot take it back to the wholesalers. Some people don't look at expiry dates. We trust this will be a warning to everyone to be vigilant to look at the expiry date.
Also, sometimes the expiry dates are smudged deliberately by rubbing a substance containing alcohol on them."
Daniels said the expired goods problem was not limited to spaza shops. He found expired goods at a well-known supermarket chain store in Gqeberha and also one in Johannesburg.
When the Advertiser pointed out to Daniels that a councillor did not have the mandate to confiscate goods from shops or check foreign shop owners' credentials, Daniels said: "No further comment."
In terms of Mossel Bay, health issues such as expired foodstuffs in shops, fall under the Garden Route District Municipality, where the environmental health officers are based. Complaints can be made to the district municipality for investigation.
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