Author: Herman Pieters
13 December 2024 Media Statement: Investigation Concludes on alleged Foodborne Illness Incident Involving Schoolchildren
Media Statement: Investigation Concludes on alleged Foodborne Illness Incident Involving Schoolchildren
13 December 2024
“The Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) of the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) have concluded their investigation into the reported illness of schoolchildren on 18 November 2024 in Mossel Bay,” said Executive Mayor, Andrew Stroebel.
The GRDM previously reported about the children were reported to have fallen ill after consuming chips purchased from local spaza shops and vendors near their school.
The mandate of GRDM is to send similar batches of chips packets for testing to the National Health Laboratory Service – Forensic Chemistry Laboratory, to screen for potential contamination. Whereas the mandate of the South African Police Service (SAPS) is to send the actual foreign objects found in the food packaging for testing.
“Testing a specific batch of a product is crucial for pinpointing contamination or irregularities linked to a particular production or handling period. This process ensures traceability and prevents inaccurate generalizations about a product’s safety,” said Stroebel
“According to the laboratory test results, the toxicology analysis confirmed that no traces of toxic chemicals were present in any of the batches of chips.”
“The EHPs have concluded that there is no evidence that the chips were cause of the illness of the children,” said Stroebel.
The South African Police Service (SAPS), however, is busy conducting testing on substances found as part of their ongoing investigation.
To report any incidents of suspected counterfeit or tampered foods, members of the public are urged to contact their nearest SAPS or reach out directly to the Garden Route District Municipality’s Environmental Health Services.
- Johan Compion – Senior Manager: Municipal Health, Solid Waste Management & Air Quality Control. jcompion@gardenroute.gov.za; 044 803 1550 / 082 803 5161
- Desmond Paulse – Manager: Municipal Health Klein Karoo. desmond@gardenroute.gov.za; 044 272 2241 / 083 678 6530; 94 St John Street, Oudtshoorn.
- Rinay Cloete – Acting Chief: Municipal Health Mossel Bay. rinay@gardenroute.gov.za; 044 693 0006 / 083 630 6108; C/O Sampson & Marling Street, Ext 23, Mossel Bay.
- Emmy Douglas – Chief: Municipal Health George (Outeniqua). emmy@gardenroute.gov.za; 044 803 1537 / 078 457 2824; Mission Street, Industrial Area, George.
- Jessica Erasmus – Acting Chief: Municipal Health George (Wilderness); jessica@gardenroute.gov.za; 044 803 1522 / 081 346 3118; Mission Street, Industrial Area, George.
- James McCarthy – Chief: Municipal Health Knysna (Lakes). james@gardenroute.gov.za; 044 382 7214 / 082 805 9417; 26A Queen Street, Knysna.
- Gawie Vos – Chief: Municipal Health Bitou (Lakes). Gjvos@gardenroute.gov.za; 044 501 1600 / 083 557 1522; 7 Gibb Street, Plettenberg Bay
- Haemish Herwels – Chief: Municipal Health Hessequa (Langeberg). haemish@gardenroute.gov.za; 028 713 2438 / 083 678 6545; 23 Mitchell Street, Riversdale.
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Closure of Offices on Friday, 13 December 2024 at 12h00
Public Notice: Closure of Offices on Friday, 13 December 2024 at 12h00
10 December 2024
Notice is hereby given that the offices of the Garden Route District Municipality will close on Friday, 13 December 2024 at 12:00 and re-open on Monday, 6 January 2025 at 07:30. All emergency services will continue to be rendered during this period. The number 044 805 5071 can be contacted at all hours for such services.
MG Stratu
Municipal Manager
54 York Street
P.O. Box 12
GEORGE
6530
Tel: 044 803 1300
5 December 2024 Media Release: Initiation Schools – GRDM’s Roles, Responsibilities, and Frequently Asked Questions
Media Release: Initiation Schools – GRDM’s Roles, Responsibilities, and Frequently Asked Questions
5 December 2024
Within the jurisdiction of the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), initiation forums play a central role in ensuring the safe and culturally respectful management of initiation processes. Similarly, Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) ensure that public health standards are upheld throughout these traditional practices.
Structure of Initiation Forums
Each town in the district has an Initiation Forum comprising representatives from the GRDM, the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Western Cape Government Department of Health (WCG DOH), the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), Local Municipalities, Garden Route District Municipal Health Services, and members of the public.
Frequency of Initiation Seasons
Initiation seasons occur twice a year, in June and December. To prepare stakeholders, EHPs facilitate education sessions in schools and communities ahead of these months.
Education sessions for the summer season focus areas
- Awareness of communicable diseases (including tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV screening);
- Health and hygiene practices;
- Guidelines and prohibitions before attending an initiation school; and
- Community and high schools.
Over the past few months, all high schools and secondary schools were approached for education sessions. Similar training was also conducted within communities, including sessions for parents.
Key messages
- New Processes: Parents must follow specific steps, starting with completing registration forms granting permission for their child to undergo traditional initiation;
- Parental Involvement: Fathers, in particular, are encouraged to participate actively during health screenings;
- Health, Hygiene, and Nutrition: Importance of maintaining food safety, providing healthy meals three times a day, and ensuring a father figure is present 24/7 for each boy;
- The Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (WCG DCAS) donated water bottles, first aid kits, and other essential supplies to various towns in the Garden Route District; and
- Local municipalities will ensure clean water is available at all initiation school sites.
Monitoring and Registration
Members of the WCG DCAS, along with Initiation Forum representatives, conduct regular visits to initiation schools. Parents are expected to remain available 24/7, with fathers taking leave to take responsibility for their children during initiation.
All initiation school sites, traditional surgeons, and traditional nurses must be registered with the Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee (PICC) for each season, in accordance with the Customary Initiation Act, No. 2 of 2021.
Contact Information
Johan Compion
Senior Manager: Municipal Health, Solid Waste, and Air Quality
Email: info@gardenroute.gov.za
Tel: 044 803 1300 | Cell: 082 803 5161
Feature Image: Mail & Guardian
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29 November 2024 Media Release: Marine Protected Areas – an ecosystem treasure chest
Media Release: Marine Protected Areas – an ecosystem treasure chest
29 November 2024
“The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and a team of specialist consultants responsible for drawing up the management plans for the Garden Route Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s) wrapped up their public participation effort on 27 November and will be collating the input received into a final report going forward”, says Chairperson of the Garden Route Marine and Coastal Committee Cobus Meiring.
Besides the demarcated Marine Protected Areas along the scenic Garden Route coastline, there are two seamounts located some four hundred kilometres offshore of Mossel Bay and two more east of Cape Agulhas. The seamounts are large submarine landforms that rises from the ocean floor without reaching the water surface and sustain invaluable marine ecosystems.
Because of their elevated position in the water interaction between seamounts and underwater currents attract plankton, corals , fish and marine animals alike. Seamounts are fish factories and their sustained survival is vital to South Africa’s commercial fisheries and future ocean economy.
Coastal Marine Protected Areas along the Garden Route coast are well controlled and monitored by the powers that be and serve as vital breeding ground for all marine life and eco- systems.
The seamounts deep in the Indian Ocean is, however, in a perilous position as South Africa no longer has the human capacity, littoral patrol and navy vessels nor aircraft capable of monitoring and safeguarding the country’s natural infrastructural assets in the open ocean from plundering.
As the 2024/25 festive season is approaching recreational fishermen are encouraged to make sure they have their relevant permits in place, stay clear of Marine Protected Areas and stick to the rules that apply when practicing their sport. This is needed to ensure that our South African marine life has a sustainable future.
Happy fishing!
The Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF) is an environmental and climate change think- tank (www.grefscli.co.za).
28 November 2024 Media Release: Accurate Waste Data – The Key to Managing Our Region’s Waste Effectively
Media Release: Accurate Waste Data – The Key to Managing Our Region’s Waste Effectively
28 November 2024
The Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) is committed to improving waste management in the region by constructing a Regional Waste Management Facility (RWMF). The facility will be operational by March 2025. This will, amongst others, ensure the accurate collection of data, better reporting practices, and infrastructure that supports sustainable waste practices.
Registered Waste Facilities in the Region
Currently, all waste disposal, recycling, and export facilities in the region are required to register with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment’s (DFFE) Waste Information System. Local municipalities submit monthly reports to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP)’s Integrated Pollutant and Waste Information System, feeding into the national South African Waste Information System (SAWIS). From data collected over the past few years, it is clear that accurate and consistent reporting remains a challenge, particularly due to the lack of weighbridges in most municipalities (this is noted countrywide).
According to Johan Gie, the GRDM Manager: Waste Management: “The RWMF will have two weighbridges installed for the weighing of incoming and outgoing waste collection and transport vehicles”.
GRDM’s strategic planning is committed to the regionalisation of integrated waste management and minimisation services as advocated by the Western Cape Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs & Development Planning (DEA&DP) and the National Waste Management Strategy, 2020. The DEA&DP, who is the licensing authority for domestic waste facilities, is committed to only licensing regional landfill sites and will therefore not issue waste management licenses to individual local municipalities going forward. “This is largely due to the economies of scale which reduces the capital and operational costs and improved overall compliance,” says Gie.
Regionalisation of landfill sites reduce potential detrimental environmental impacts because they avoid the spread of sources of pollution and reduce the socio-economic risks associated with local municipal landfills. A regional site is required, also because there is an exponential influx of people to the Garden Route District and subsequently increases the demand for refuse disposal services. The RWMF will allow the participating municipalities to meet this increased demand associated with the envisaged population growth in a cost-effective manner.
Regional Waste Statistics
The GRDM has access to waste disposal data for each town in the region. This data is critical for understanding waste generation patterns and for publishing statistics that help inform future waste management strategies and future planning. Although the compilation of detailed data, including recycling rates by material type, is ongoing, the GRDM is committed to improving data accuracy and availability.
The information currently reported by municipalities is mainly an estimate due to a shortage of weighbridges. These estimates are calculated by tools developed by DEA&DP and private industry to determine waste tonnages based on the type of vehicle (load capacity); type of waste e.g. builders’ rubble, garden waste, mixed waste etc., which each have an average uncompacted weight per cubic metre, and the percentage of load capacity filled with waste, amongst other things.
The RWMF weighbridges will be calibrated, and accurate waste disposal data will be available for the municipalities utilising the regional site which will be reported on the required information systems accordingly.
In the past, the GRDM assisted the seven local municipalities in the district by facilitating waste characterisation studies. “The aim of the waste characterisation exercise was to address an information gap in terms of the composition of waste stream in the local municipalities,” said Gie.
The following were noted from the results of the waste characterisation exercises:
- 3% of the waste stream by mass is composed of mainstream recyclables (paper, plastic, cardboard, glass and metal)
- 6% of the waste stream by mass is organics, the majority of the organics (73.5%) is kitchen waste
- Nappies composed 7.8% of the waste stream by mass.
The results of the waste characterisation exercise indicate that a reduction in domestic waste to landfill of 75.9% is achievable if all the recyclable material and organic waste were separated at source by households. In practice a 100% diversion rate is not possible as not all households will participate in a separation at the source. However, there still remains potential to significantly reduce domestic waste that goes landfill.
Recycling Figures and Future Reporting
GRDM is currently updating its data on the types and volumes of recycled materials, which will provide valuable insights into the region’s recycling efforts. These figures, once finalized, will help demonstrate the impact of recycling initiatives and identify areas for improvement.
The GRDM urges the public to make use of the at-source recycling programmes and facilities throughout the region. Households can further reduce their waste by composting organic wastes where possible. The following recycling facilities are registered with GRDM:
| Baleng Redira Tyre Recyclers (District) | 076 455 9544 |
| Henque Waste (George) | 082 552 5373 |
| Henque Waste (Riversdale) | 072 626 6249 |
| Henque Waste (Mossel Bay) | 067 406 2489 |
| LG E-Waste (George) | 061 434 5814 |
| Maiqhame Trading (Plett) | 083 650 5620 |
| Retain Recycle Re-Use (Oudtshoorn) | 044 279 2081 |
| Southern Cape Waste & Recycling (Mossel Bay) | 044 693 5005 |
| DM Recycling Waste Management (Knysna) | 072 281 7231 |
GRDM recognises that waste management is a collective responsibility and calls on businesses and residents to ensure a cleaner, healthier environment for the region.
For any inquiries relating to District Waste Management, please contact Johan Gie on 084 404 3515, or e-mail johang@gardenroute.gov.za
Feature image caption: Weigh bridges form part of the critical path of the RWMF and they are currently being installed.
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25 November 2024 Media Release: Great turn-out during Educational Workshop for Informal Food Traders hosted in Thembalethu, George
Media Release: Great turn-out during Educational Workshop for Informal Food Traders in Thembalethu, George
25 November 2024
The Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Environmental Health Practitioners (EHP), in collaboration George Municipality, the National Department of Agriculture and the South African Police Services (SAPS), hosted an educational workshop aimed at empowering informal food traders in Thembalethu, George.
According to Acting Chief for Environmental Health Practitioners from the George, Jessica Erasmus, “approximately 200 informal food traders attended the session”. “We started at 09h30 and finished after 12h00. Initially about 50-odd people were present but the numbers quickly increased as more information was being shared.”
“The workshop featured presentations from our EHPs and several critical stakeholders who have a role to play in regulating informal food traders.”
National Department of Agriculture focused on pesticides and poison
Presented on prohibited pesticides and rat poisons that businesses are not allowed to sell. Emphasis was placed on ensuring the safety of products offered to the public. Additionally, guidelines were provided on the proper storage of hazardous materials, stressing the importance of secure and compliant storage practices.
GRDM EHPs focus on health and hygiene
Conducted an interactive session using an educational video to outline hygiene and structural requirements for spaza shops. Practical demonstrations were included to enhance understanding. EHPs also discussed the three types of Certificates of Acceptability (CoAs) available for traders:
- Selling Products: Certification for selling food products.
- Food Preparation: For preparing food on-site.
- Food Processing: For factory-based food production.
Spaza shop owners were reminded about strict quality control measures. Items such as dented, rusted, or improperly labeled cans, as well as unlabelled coffees and oils sold in small packets, must be removed from their shelves.
For queries relating to CoAs issued by EHPs in the George municipal area, contact:
- Emmy Douglas – 044 803 1537, emmy@gardenroute.gov.za
- Jessica Erasmus – 044 803 1522, jessica@gardenroute.gov.za
George Municipality Fire Department focused on fire safety
Delivered a presentation on fire safety, highlighting the necessity of having fire extinguishers on-site. They also provided important contact details for reporting structural fires and other emergencies.
Key contact numbers relating to fire and rescue services at George Municipality:
- For fire emergencies contact 044 801 6311, after-hours emergencies 044 801 6311 and for general enquiries, 044 801 6300
George Municipality Planning Department shared insights into business licenses and zoning
Shared insights on zoning requirements and building plan requirements for businesses and detailed the process for obtaining business licenses. Informal traders were reminded to register their businesses with the George Municipality.
- Tanja Botha – 044 802 2900, tabotha@george.gov.za
- Anelisa Yani – 044 802 2900, ayani@george.gov.za
- Abongile Nontshikiza – 044 802 2900, anontshikiza@george.gov.za
South African Police Service (SAPS) focused on operating hours
Provided clarity on the operating hours for spaza shops, ensuring compliance with regulations to maintain orderly trading practices and safety.
As part of their oversight, the GRDM MMC for Community Services, Cllr Jobieth Hoogbaard, also attended the educational session. He also took a moment to welcome everyone present, while he was joined by Cllr Jacobus Gertse (GRDM Councillor).
“More workshops will be rolled out in other parts of the region to enhance safety and compliance of other informal food traders,” said Erasmus.
Feature: Imam Saaid providing closing remarks
You are invited to an Informal Food Traders Workshop in George
You are invited to an Informal Food Traders Workshop in George
Date: 25 November
Time: 09:00 – 11:00
Venue: Thembalethu Thusong centre, Jeriko Street, Thembalethu, George
The Garden Route District Municipality is pleased to host an Informal Food Traders Workshop in collaboration with George Municipality. This educational session is designed to empower individuals who own, operate, or work in informal food premises.
The workshop will provide essential information on the legal requirements for running a spaza shop, along with insights from expert speakers on key topics such as:
- Health and Hygiene
- Fire Safety
- Building Plan Compliance
- Waste Management
- And other important aspects related to operating informal food trading businesses
This interactive and engaging session is a great opportunity to refresh your knowledge and gain valuable guidance to enhance your operations.
If you have any questions about this upcoming event, please contact Jessica Erasmus on 044 803 1522 or WhatsApp 081 346 3118, e-mail jessica@gardenroute.gov.za
20 November 2024 Media Release: Mayors and Municipal Managers Visit Regional Waste Management Facility Site
Media Release: Mayors and Municipal Managers Visit Regional Waste Management Facility Site
20 November 2024
Earlier today, 20 November, Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Executive Mayor Andrew Stroebel led a delegation of Mayors and Municipal Managers from local municipalities on an oversight visit to the Regional Waste Management Facility (RWMF), located next to PetroSA in Mossel Bay.
“During my previous District Coordinating Forum I promised to arrange a site visit for Mayors and Municipal Managers to witness to progress of this collective mega-project,” said Mayor Stroebel.
During the visit, GRDM Waste Manager Johan Gie explained the minimum requirements for initiating waste disposal operations at the facility. These requirements include the completion of Cell 1A, the access road, weighbridge, leachate and contaminated water dams, drainage pipes, guardhouse, weighbridge buildings, and permanent fencing.
Gie previously at the DCF detailed some of the challenges faced with completing the project according to its planned schedule. The main issue has been been rain and wind damage, which caused delays in preparing the surface of Cell 1A. Cell 1A is part of the critical path of the project and needs to be completed for municipalities to start disposing waste. “In some cases, work had to be restarted multiple times due to the extent of the damage,” said Gie.
On a positive note, PetroSA has agreed to a month-to-month extension for the disposal of waste at its site adjacent to the RWMF, provided it complies with the prescribed licence conditions. GRDM will also be responsible for operating the temporary site, while also supplying the required cover material.
Overall the stakeholders were impressed with the progress made to date.
In his closing remarks, Mayor Stroebel said: “I want to thank GRDM Community Services Head of Department, Nthabeleng Raisa-Mlandu, the Mayoral Committee Chairperson for Community Services Jobieth Hoogbaard, Johan Gie – our Waste Management Manager and other personnel for their collective efforts to getting this project to where it is today”.
The works are still ongoing at the RWMF.
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