The air is grim as Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) commits to clearing Scenery Park of illegal wooden structures and businesses illegally occupying municipal land.
A raid was conducted along Woolwash road on Friday focusing on Spaza shops, livestock shacks and places of slumber, all demolished or closed down due to non-compliance.
In some Spaza shops, food had expired and did not live up to hygienic standards.
A representative from Consumer Protection Xolani Memani says shop owners use their containers as a place of business and as a home.
He told Algoa FM News that owners sleep and bath in the same space they sell food and other goods to the community, posing a health hazard and in clear contravention of some Acts in the Consumer Protection Act.
Furthermore, there is a congestion of food and non-consumables, no clear pricing labels on shelves, not to mention the fact that Parrafin was found stored with food.
The South African Revenue Services (SARS) tagged along during Friday's raid to ensure that businesses were registered and up to date with tax.
Memani says business workshops are in the pipeline to educate communities about proper registration procedures so that infringements can be avoided going forward.
BCM and Solid Waste will take the rest of the afternoon to demolish illegally erected structures and clear up the municipal land.
