Old Video of Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi Discovering Illegal Immigrants Selling Expired Food Resurfaces

• A resurfaced eNCA clip from a 2024 Durban warehouse raid showed floor-to-ceiling stockpiles of expired imported food products destined for spaza shops
• KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and Premier Thami Ntuli led the operation, which also uncovered fake medicine stored alongside pesticides
• The footage reignited public outrage over food safety, coming against the recent backdrop of children suspected to have died from food poisoning

DURBAN — A video from a 2024 police raid on warehouses in the Bluff, south-east of Durban, has resurfaced online and is drawing renewed public fury over the safety of food sold through spaza shops across South Africa.

The eNCA broadcast, shared on X by Lerato Pillay, shows KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi being interviewed inside a warehouse packed with pallets of imported goods. Products including "Onga" seasoning, "Golden Morn" cereal, bottled drinks and canned fish were laid out on a table for inspection of expired imported food being found at a Durban facility.

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What officers found at the Bluff warehouses

The raid, conducted in November 2024 and led jointly by Commissioner Mkhwanazi and KZN Premier Thami Ntuli, uncovered expired baby food, soya beans, fizzy drinks, canned fish and alcohol. Fake medicine and counterfeit body lotions were found stored in proximity to pesticides. Separate warehouses on the same site held what authorities described as millions of rands worth of counterfeit branded clothing.

Premier Ntuli described the finds as deeply troubling.

"What has been discovered here is unfortunate," he said.

Commissioner Mkhwanazi explained the broader investigative context.

"It's part of an investigation about the goods coming into this country and where they will eventually be," he said. "We need brand owners to give us statements that these goods indeed are not theirs so that it becomes part of the case docket. We need to know who's bringing it in, where they send it to, who they sell it to, and the eventual final destination."

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Investigators established that the expired goods were being channelled into spaza shops serving townships and rural villages. The raid took place against the backdrop of a national health emergency, with more than 20 schoolchildren suspected to have died from food poisoning linked to goods purchased at spaza shops.

Public anger reignites as clip circulates

The clip's return to public attention has sparked a new wave of reaction on X.

@stokiemogale wrote:

"#Boycott Foreigners Spaza shops.... Only the masses can stop this madness....Stop buying from Foreigners Shops nationwide"

@PanAfricanCrime directed the post at multiple government accounts, asking:

"How is this possible. Who checks the food bio hazards from importing foreign bacteria, viruses or parasites. Where is the SA government?"

@MostInfinit_1 placed blame closer to home, stating:

"Yet hundreds or shops are open and the Dbn Municipality is doing nothing about it"

@SimfumeneS called for a wider net to be cast:

"The importers are the biggest fish in this pond. Check medicine as well"

@Melo_Malebo added: "The shipping company gotta answer a lot of questions"

Watch the warehouse raid footage that reignited the debate:

City of Johannesburg cracks down on spaza shops

In a related article, Briefly News reported on the City of Johannesburg's recent crackdown on spaza shops in Orange Farm due to health and safety violations, including the presence of expired food and unsafe gas storage. This operation underscores the ongoing efforts to ensure compliance and protect public welfare, as community members raise alarms over unsafe trading conditions.

Source: Briefly News