South Africa Food Safety Probe Exposes Gauteng Health Inspector Shortage

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA –

Every municipality in South Africa’s Gauteng province falls short of the World Health Organisation benchmark of one environmental health practitioner for every 10,000 residents, according to a Public Protector investigation reported by Spotlight on August 11.

Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka found that the entire province is functioning at less than a third of the required staffing capacity for environmental health practitioners, the officials responsible for food safety inspection and other municipal health functions.

Johannesburg had 240 practitioners for 4.8 million people, about half the recommended level. Ekurhuleni and Tshwane each had fewer than a quarter of the recommended number.

Licensing coverage of informal food retail was also weak. Only 5 percent of spaza shops in Ekurhuleni were licensed, against 14 percent in Johannesburg and 30 percent in Tshwane.

Lucia Anelich, a food microbiologist, said practitioners should be dedicated to food safety so that municipalities can regulate it more effectively rather than spreading staff across all nine municipal health functions set out in the National Health Act.

Foster Mohale, spokesperson for the National Department of Health, described a risk-management approach and coordination efforts across spheres of government. Jaap de Visser of the Dullah Omar Institute was cited on the constitutional assignment of municipal health services.

 

Why it matters: Food safety enforcement is the early warning system for foodborne outbreaks, and Gauteng is running it at a third of capacity.

 

 

Source: Spotlight, August 11, 2026, https://www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/08/11/what-the-public-protectors-food-safety-investigation-reveals-about-gautengs-public-health-early-warning-system/