The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has appointed 11 new Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) in a move aimed at strengthening frontline public health services across the Metro.
The appointments form part of the Municipality’s broader strategy to improve food safety, disease prevention, environmental protection and the overall health and wellbeing of residents.
According to the Municipality, the additional practitioners will increase its capacity to carry out inspections, respond to complaints more quickly and strengthen compliance with public health legislation.
What residents can expect
For residents, the expanded environmental health team is expected to result in more frequent inspections of restaurants, supermarkets, butcheries, spaza shops and food manufacturing facilities to ensure food is prepared, stored and sold according to health regulations.
The practitioners will also strengthen monitoring of drinking water quality through regular testing of reservoirs, rivers, beaches and public swimming pools.
Their work will extend to monitoring refuse collection, sewage, healthcare risk waste and hazardous waste management, helping to reduce illegal dumping and minimise environmental health risks throughout Nelson Mandela Bay.
The team will also assist with disease surveillance and investigations, while monitoring air quality, noise pollution and other environmental factors that can affect public health.
Investment in healthier communities
Welcoming the appointments, Executive Mayor Councillor Babalwa Lobishe described the move as an investment in the health and quality of life of residents.
“A healthy city is a prosperous city. Communities can only thrive when residents have confidence that the food they consume is safe, the water they drink is of good quality, the air they breathe is being monitored and the environment they live in is protected.”
She added that stronger environmental health services also support Nelson Mandela Bay’s goals of attracting investment, tourism and sustainable economic growth, while warning that businesses failing to comply with health regulations should expect increased inspections and stricter enforcement.
Strengthening frontline public health
MMC for Public Health Councillor Thsonono Buyeye said the appointments come at a time when municipalities face increasing environmental health demands.
He said lessons learned from outbreaks such as rabies, listeriosis and COVID-19 have highlighted the need for sufficient professional capacity to prevent health risks before they become crises.
The newly appointed practitioners will now be deployed across the Metro, where they will help accelerate inspections of food premises, strengthen water quality monitoring, intensify air quality and noise control inspections and improve the Municipality’s overall environmental health response.
Why this matters for Nelson Mandela Bay
From the food people buy to the water they drink and the cleanliness of neighbourhoods, Environmental Health Practitioners play a key role in everyday life. The appointment of 11 additional practitioners is expected to improve inspection capacity, strengthen disease prevention efforts and enhance public health services for communities across Nelson Mandela Bay.
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