Cape Town - The City of Cape Town’s health department has cautioned businesses across the city to be careful of scammers claiming to be health officials.
The department said that the fake health officials were going around attempting to extort businesses into renewing their health certification, claiming that a Certificate of Acceptability (COA) issued to a business preparing food expires every two years.
Community services and health Mayco member Patricia van der Ross said the fake officials who claim to be working for the Western Cape provincial Health Department head office then threaten to close the 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,” she said.
Van Der Ross also revealed that the City was aware of at least three cases in the Kalk Bay, Muizenberg and Bergvliet areas where the scam was attempted.
She said in all three cases, the local environmental health practitioners (EHPs) who service the areas were well known and business owners showed the criminals the door and reported the matter to the City.
“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 change management, are sold, and physical changes are made to the premises or the scope of operations,” she said.
Only the City of Cape Town dealth 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.
According to the City, all its staff carry sturdy identification cards with the City logo that specifies their designation and the department they are working for. In their capacity as City employees, no one can request any rewards, gifts, favours or hospitality and do not have the right to accept any of these.
City officials are also not allowed to accept payment directly from clients. Any applications that require payment should only occur at a City cash office or via electronic funds transfer into the City’s bank account details that are available on the City’s website.
“I would like to again inform the public that there is no charge associated with the processing or issuing of a COA. 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,” Van der Ross said.