Cape Town - The City is warning the public against fake health officials trying to score free meals by attempting to force businesses to renew their Health Certification, claiming that a Certificate of Acceptability (COA) issued to a business preparing food expires every two years.
The City’s Health Directorate said it was aware of three cases in the Kalk Bay, Muizenberg and Bergvliet areas where the scam had been attempted.
In all three cases, the local Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) who service the areas are well-known, and the business owners showed the criminals the door and reported the matter to the City.
The persons who claim to be working for the Western Cape Provincial Health Department Head Office threaten to close premises down and demand free meals from restaurants.
“Criminals are finding more inventive ways to scam people out of their money and scoring free meals, as in this case. Not only is this fraudulent and illegal behaviour, but many restaurants are still recovering from lockdown and can ill afford to be scammed in this manner,” said mayco member for community services and health, Patricia van der Ross.
The City cautioned, in order to avoid being conned, business owners need to be aware that COAs issued since the updated regulations were published in 2018 remain valid unless the premises has a change in management, is sold, physical changes are made to the premises and/or to the scope of operations.
“Only the City of Cape Town Health Department has the legal mandate to issue COAs to food premises which, when issued, are printed on specifically manufactured paper with a holographic City logo that prevents it from being replicated. All City staff carry sturdy identification cards with the City logo that specifies their designation and department they are working for,” the City said.
In their capacity as City employees, no one can request any rewards, gifts, favours and/or hospitality and do not have a general right to accept any of these.
Further, City officials are not permitted to accept payment directly from clients.
“We encourage anyone who has been conned or threatened in this manner to please report it to the police and provide as much information as possible so that those responsible can be brought to book,” said Van Der Ross.
“If you’re approached, or anyone visits your premises and demands payment or any type of reward for any type of inspection or documentation, insist on checking their credentials and verifying their story with the local Environmental Health office. Business owners can also check the legitimacy of any documentation provided by a third party with their EHPs,” she added.
To find a local Environmental Health office, visit: https://www.capetown.gov.za/Departments/City%20Health%20Department.
Cape Times