LOOK: 75-year-old gogo among five arrested for selling rotten and expired food for human consumption
A 75-year-old woman has become the latest suspect to be arrested in connection with a family-run operation accused of repackaging and selling expired and rotten food for human consumption in Charl Cilliers, outside Secunda.
Hawks Mpumalanga spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Magonseni Nkosi said Wilhemina Jacoba and Phakamani Hlongwane, 36, handed themselves over to the Secunda-based Serious Organised Crime Investigation team after they were linked to three relatives arrested earlier — Pieter Grobler, 31, Mark Lombard, 29, and Sonnet Lombard, 46.
“They were processed and taken to court where they were granted bail,” Nkosi said.
Jacoba and Hlongwane appeared in the Secunda Magistrate’s Court on Monday. They were each granted R2,500 bail and are expected to return to court on 6 February 2026.
Nkosi said the arrests followed a tip-off about illicit activities on a farm in Charl Cilliers, where rotten and expired food was allegedly stored, repackaged, and sold to the unsuspecting public.
During Grobler’s arrest, several items including vehicles and cool rooms were seized, and the contaminated food was disposed of.
All five suspects face charges including contravention of the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, corruption, fraud and money laundering.
Mpumalanga head of the Hawks, Major General Nico Gerber, said investigations were continuing.
“We will proceed until all those behind these inhumane activities are brought to book,” he said.
In February, IOL reported that a farmer was arrested in Mpumalanga for allegedly repacking expired and rotten food for delivery to different retailers. At the time, the Hawks in Mpumalanga stated that the rotten food was intended for human consumption.
Nkosi said the Hawks’ Secunda-based serious organised crime investigation and members of Charl Cilliers SAPS operationalised information which was received from “a reliable source” about the farmer’s activities.
“According to allegations, the 30-year-old farmer collects expired food from chain stores and other distributors under the auspices of feeding such food to his domestic animals,” said Nkosi.
When the team comprising of the Hawks and Govern Mbeki Local Municipality’s health inspectors visited the farm, they were shocked when two warehouses were found packed with food which they described as “not fit for human consumption”.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
IOL News