Public health risk rises

JOBLESS GRADUATES: GOVT RENEGES ON PLEDGE TO EMPLOY 520 INSPECTORS

- Masoka Dube

With South Africa facing a looming food safety crisis – with increasing incidents of food poisoning – the government continues to "ignore" that there are not enough environmental health inspectors, unemployed practitioners say.

This follows allegations that the government has failed to keep its promise after announcing last year it had set aside R205 million to employ 520 health inspectors to address the rampant outbreak of foodborne cases that had led to the deaths of 22 children and hundreds being hospitalized.

The announcement came after the food poisoning outbreak was declared a national disaster.

Environmental health inspectors are employed by the department of health and deployed in different municipalities.

Their job is to protect the public against foodborne diseases.

A 30-year-old unemployed environmental health inspector, who wished to remain anonymous fearing reprisal, said she completed an environmental health practitioner degree at Mangosuthu University of Technology several years ago, but has not got a job.