Gauteng Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Safety, Faith Mazibuko
by GENEVIEVE KGAFE-MASHAMBA
VANDERBIJLPARK, (CAJ News) – AUTHORITIES have shut down two butcheries in Evaton and Orange Farm for allegedly selling expired meat and products.
Both belong to Roots Butchery.
Faith Mazibuko, the Gauteng Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Safety, led the operation that led to the raid at the butcheries.
The expired food included chicken livers, gizzards, chicken necks and margarine. Some of the food had been repacked and resold to the public.
The butcheries came under the spotlight after a tip-off, which led police officials and health inspectors to pounce on them during a joint coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown enforcement operation.
“We have received numerous complaints about these butcheries. We have also received another rip-off about other butcheries and we are soon going to visit them,” Mazibuko said.
“It’s not only meat we are looking for. We are also looking at other expired things in the shops,” she added.
Last week, Mazibuko and her team of health experts discovered expired food and meat at a butchery in Diepkloof, Soweto.
The owner was arrested.
“This is bad,” the MEC said.
“It means the health of our people is not being taken seriously. We are fighting COVID-19 that has no known origin and we also discover places that are not handling food properly,” Mazibuko lamented.
– CAJ News