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Consumer Commission issues non-compliance notices to Free State goods suppliers

───   ZENANDE MPAME 13:22 Tue, 30 Jul 2024

Consumer Commission issues non-compliance notices to Free State goods suppliers  | News Article
Consumer Commission issues non-compliance notices to Free State goods suppliers . Picture: thencc.org.za.

“Failure to comply with the non-compliance notices will lead to further proceedings before the National Consumer Tribunal.”

Almost three dozen Free State goods suppliers have not implemented Consumer Council recommendations nearly five months after being served non-compliance notices. 

The main findings of the investigations revealed that some of the suppliers inspected contravened various sections of the Consumer Protection Act.

“The NCC has issued notices to 33 non-compliant notices to supplies in the Free State following our market monitoring inspections that we conducted during the World Consumer Rights Day in March,” said NCC media liaison manager Phetho Ntaba.

Consumers rely on the information provided by the supplier, Phetho Ndaba. Picture: X/ National Consumer Commission.

“We followed up with these suppliers in July. We went back to see if they had fixed it per our recommendations, and we discovered they hadn’t. Here we are talking about suppliers of basic foodstuff such as perishable items that passed their best-before date a while ago.”

“This makes it a bit difficult for consumers to know or be sure of the best before dates for what they are buying as some are not marked, and of course, this can put the lives of consumers at risk,” she said.

Investigations further revealed that suppliers repackage items like rice, mealie-meal, baby formula, and nuts, into small packages, where these repackaged items are not labelled.

Various products not barcoded

Consumers can only rely on the information provided by the supplier as far as the nutrition or content of those items, which compromises the quality of goods.

Meanwhile, in Stilfontein they paid a surprise visit to the Civic Centre shopping complex as part of their clean-up campaign.

Klerksdorp Record reports health inspectors discovered that products packaged in various stores were not barcoded and that the majority of these businesses are selling expired products to the public. These non-compliant products were immediately confiscated and destroyed.

Health inspectors at the Civic Centre shopping complex in Stilfontein. Picture: Klerksdorp Record.

“We can confirm that six businesses were temporarily closed due to identified risks, while others were issued with notices of non-compliance,” said Matlosana Municipality spokesperson Ntswaki Makgetha.

“A huge problem is that most businesses were found to be operating without fire extinguishers. Notices were issued to install fire extinguishers on their premises according to guidelines.

“Furthermore the tourism unit visited guest houses to check for compliance and were pleased to find that most of them were compliant,” she said.

Consumer rights in terms of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. Picture: thencc.org.za.

The non-compliance notices served to the suppliers instructed them on how to remedy the contraventions. Failure to comply with the noncompliance notices will lead to further proceedings before the National Consumer Tribunal.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame mvh

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