GENERAL REGULATIONS PROMULGATED IN TERMS OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH ACT, 1919

Published under Government Notice No. 180 of 10 February 1967

The Minister of Health has by virtue of the powers vested in him by sections 112, 115, 132 and 157 of the Public Health Act, 1919 (Act No. 36 of 1919), made the following general health regulations as set out below: -

GENERAL HEALTH REGULATIONS

Definitions

  1. In these regulations, unless inconsistent with the context -

    "abattoir" includes all buildings, kraals, pens, sites and open spaces situated within the boundaries of the premises provided for the slaughtering of any bovine, calf, sheep, lamb, goat, pig or any other animal or bird intended for human consumption;

    "animal" means a mule, ass, horse, donkey, foal, piglet, bovine, calf, sheep, lamb, goat or kid;

    "butcher" means any person or company or firm in possession of or required to be in possession of a butcher’s licence issued in terms of the relevant Act;

    "butcher’s meat" means the carcass, or meat, or offal of any bovine, calf, sheep, lamb, goat, pig or any other quadruped or bird intended for human consumption, but shall not include canned meat;

    "butchery" means any premises used for the sale of butcher’s meat and for keeping, storing, preparing or exposing butcher’s meat intended for sale, or used in any other way for the purpose of a butcher’s business and includes the shop and associated rooms;

PART VI

Transportation of meat

37. Every butcher shall at his own expense provide a suitable vehicle used exclusively for the transportation and delivery of meat or meat products and shall at all times keep the said vehicle in a clean condition and further so maintain it that meat and other butcher’s products transported or delivered therein are not contaminated by flies, dust, filth, impurity or any other injurious matter or thing.

38.

  1. Every vehicle used for the transportation of butcher’s meat from the abattoir to any butchery, market, public place or any place where the meat is to be sold, exposed or offered to the public for sale shall be lined with a suitable impervious jointless material which shall be capable of being cleaned easily, and shall further be so contrived that -

(i) all carcasses or parts thereof may hang from a crossbeam with stainless steel hooks fitted at such a height that, if suspended therefrom, no part of any carcass touches the floor of the vehicle;
(ii) all meat is properly protected from dust and flies.

  1. No tarpaulins or cloths shall be allowed in or on the vehicle.
  2. The vehicle shall be furnished with a removable rust-proof box of impervious material with a tight-fitting lid, in which the heads, trotters and washed entrails of the animals slaughtered at the abattoir may be transported.
  3. The box as well as the body of the vehicle and associated parts shall be clean when meat is loaded therein; when the meat has been delivered, the box as well as the inferior surfaces of the body of the vehicle and associated parts shall be washed thoroughly to remove all impurities, if necessary with hot water, soap or detergent.
  4. No offal, hides or refuse shall be transported in any vehicle together with meat intended for human consumption.
  5. No person shall sit, lie or stand on any carcass or part thereof.

39.

  1. Every person concerned in the handling or transportation of butcher’s meat shall be provided by the butcher with clean sound overalls and head coverings of a light colour. At the beginning of each shift, or more frequently, should it appear necessary, porters shall be provided by the butcher with suitable, clean hooded capes.
  2. At the end of each shift, every porter shall take his overall, head covering and cape to the change-room so that they may be cleaned.
  3. Overalls, head coverings and capes shall be worn for one shift only, after which the butcher shall have them cleaned and sterilised.
  4. No person who is a "carrier" of any disease referred to in regulation 6493), or who is suffering from any infectious disease or has on his body any suppurating sore shall handle or transport meat. Should the butcher suspect that one of his employees handling or transporting meat is suffering from any disease in a communicable form or is the "carrier" of such disease, he shall immediately notify the local authority accordingly.