In this Issue...

• Safer paraffin stoves campaign held in Vusimuzi informal

settlement, Tembisa - PG 2

• The sixth NRCS building lekgotla focused on empowering

building officers - PG 4

• Nationwide energy-saving campaign to be launched in

South Africa - PG 5

• NRCS takes consumer education to Buffalo City - PG 5

• The NRSC confiscates over four million non-compliant

incandescent lamps - PG 6

• Seminar on Food Labelling and Consumer Protection in

South Africa - PG 7

A quarterly publication issued by NRCS THIRD QUARTER | October - December 2015

www.nrcs.org.za

Safer paraffin stoves campaign held in Vusimuzi informal settlement, Tembisa

Pretoria – Safe paraffin stoves have been distributed

to households in the Vusimuzi informal settlement in

Tembisa as part of the Safer Stoves Campaign, says the

Department of Trade and Industry (dti). >>Page 2

NRCS | Industry Bulletin • Third Quarter | Oct - Dec 2015

Safer paraffin stoves campaign held in Vusimuzi informal settlement, Tembisa

Pretoria – Safe paraffin stoves have been distributed to households in the Vusimuzi informal settlement in Tembisa as part of the Safer Stoves Campaign, says the Department of Trade and Industry (dti).

A total of 3 000 households in the area were found to be

using stoves that were not safe. These were confiscated

and replaced with safe stoves.

Speaking at the handover ceremony on Tuesday, Trade and

Industry minister, Rob Davies, said the import and sale of

deadly, non-compliant paraffin stoves is prohibited in the

country.

“The reason we are against the use of the illegal stoves is

that in the event that it is tipped over, the flame continues

burning, the paraffin spills out and the stove causes fire,

devastating communities in the process. With the compliant

stove, if it is tipped over, the flame goes out and the

paraffin does not spill, therefore averting a catastrophe,”

said Minister Davies.

He added that they discovered that nine houses out of 10

make use of the illegal stoves because they are cheaper

than the safe, compliant ones, which are approved by the

National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS).

“Every year 200 000 people are affected by fires caused by

unsafe paraffin stoves. This causes hardship in communities,

government and municipalities. We are saying that through

this campaign, this has got to stop. We went to the docks

in Durban and discovered these stoves were shipped in via

cargo.

>> Continues to page 4

2

NRCS | Industry Bulletin • Third Quarter | Oct - Dec 2015

Safer paraffin stoves launch in pics

3

Building control officers, the people who inspect buildings for quality and standards for municipalities, need to be empowered and protected in order for them to perform their duties with less complications.

The sixth NRCS building lekgotla focused on empowering building officers

This was said by NRCS Chief Executive, Asogan Moodley,

while delivering a keynote address at the convention,

which was held at the Francis Baard District Municipality

chamber hall in Kimberly.

In his address, Moodley stressed the importance of

empowering building officers to ensure uniform

implementation of the NBR&BS Act across the country.

“These officers play a critical role of ensuring safety of

NRCS | Industry Bulletin • Third Quarter | Oct - Dec 2015 4

buildings; we therefore need to ensure that the Act

protects and assists them in performing their duties with

ease,” he said.

Held under the theme “Working together to ensure safety

of buildings in South Africa”, the convention is a platform

where various stakeholders in the building industry share

ideas with a view to implement the National Building

Regulations and Standards Act (NBR&BS Act 103 of 1977)

in a uniform manner. The Act provides uniformity in the

law, relating to the erection of buildings in the areas of

jurisdiction of local authorities for the prescribing of

building standards.

NRCS plays an important role within the Built Environment

ensuring that buildings are safe, structurally sound and

environmentally friendly.

Delegates at the convention also discussed, among other

issues, ways to ensure that buildings are safe for occupation

as well as the status of the NBR&BS Act 103 of 1977, which

is currently under review.

>> Continues from page 2

“We were confiscating and destroying them but the

perpetrators involved in this trade have resorted to

importing these stoves in bits and pieces, and are setting up

illegal factories to assemble and distribute them locally,”

he explained.

“We also had a South African Police Service and NRCS

driven operation that found four informal and two formal

shops selling illegal stoves. The operation resulted in 44

illegal stoves being confiscated, and six arrests were made.

Those people are going to be prosecuted in court.

“Today our campaign has reached a new level in that we

have brought the Department of Cooperative Governance

and Traditional Affairs on board,” Minister Davies said.

The Safer Stoves Campaign involves the dti, Department

of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, NRCS,

National Consumer Commission (NCC) and Ekurhuleni

Metropolitan Municipality.

The partnership follows a winter campaign that kicked

off in June 2015 by the NRCS and NCC, which was aimed

at educating consumers about the importance of using

approved appliances such as paraffin stoves and heaters

to prevent shack fires that often result in loss of lives and

damage to property.

Minister Davies said 700 people in the community were

trained to promote the importance of safe stoves as well as

the importance of getting rid of unsafe stoves.

Nationwide energy-saving campaign to be launched inSouth Africa

The National Department of Energy, working together with the Department of Trade and Industry and various stakeholders including the NRCS and SABS is expected to launch an energy-saving campaign across the country.

Dubbed the Appliance Check Campaign, it will focus on

household appliances and is aimed at creating awareness

around ways in which to save energy when using

refrigerators, washing machines and other home-related

appliances.

Manufacturers of these household appliances will also

be targeted to ensure that they comply with labelling

requirements that are enforced by the NRCS through

compulsory specifications.

The campaign will be rolled across the country, creating

awareness to the people of South Africa about the

importance of saving energy, therefore contributing to

economic growth and job creation.

NRCS | Industry Bulletin • Third Quarter | Oct - Dec 2015 5

Image source: philadelphia-appliance-repair.com

In its quest to expand consumer education regarding the dangers associated with the use of unsafe products, the NRCS in

partnership with the Departments of Trade and Industry, and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, hosted a fire-

simulation exercise in East London.

The shack-burning exercise was aimed at educating the residents of Duncan Village, and surrounding areas, about the dangers

associated with unsafe products in particular paraffin stoves and heaters. The simulation is also part of the ongoing National

Safer Stoves Campaign, which was launched on 8 December 2015 at the Lindelani Sports Grounds in Tembisa.

NRCS takes consumer education to Buffalo City

Image source: timeslive.co.za

The NRSC confiscates over four million non-compliant incandescent lamps

The bulk of these lighting products are imported, mainly

from the Far East. The strategic move taken by the NRCS

to enforce compliance at the ports of entry resulted in

the interception of large volumes of non-compliant bulbs,

which do not meet the minimum requirements. Recently, in

collaboration with SARS, the NRCS impounded 26 containers

of non-compliant incandescent lamps, 4.5 million lamps in

total, with a market value of approximately R45 million.

The non-compliant incandescent lamps will be destroyed

later this year in Durban, Cape Town and Gauteng saving

the South African economy millions of rands from illicit

goods.

In the 2015/16 financial year, the regulatory scope of the

NRCS has expanded to include the energy efficiency of

The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) regulates compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and incandescent lamps, ensuring the two lighting technologies are safe for use, and that they meet the minimum energy performance standards as set in the technical regulations.

many household electrical and electronic appliances. The

appliances covered include: audio and visual equipment

such as televisions and set-top boxes, refrigerators and

freezers, electric ovens, washing machines, washer-dryer

combinations, tumble dryers, dishwashers, air conditioners

and geysers. The enforcement is being implemented in

phases from May 2015 to November 2016. In addition,

these appliances will be required to have appropriate

energy-efficiency labels, declaring the energy performance

in accordance with the relevant standards.

All these efforts are done in line with the call made by

President Jacob Zuma in his state of the nation address

in June 2014, to radically respond to the country’s energy

constrains and boost economic growth.

NRCS | Industry Bulletin • Third Quarter | Oct - Dec 2015 6

Image source: shopify.com

Seminar on Food Labelling and Consumer Protectionin South Africa

According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob

Davies, the mislabelling of various food products is common

in South Africa, and this not only violates food regulations

but also poses a number of economic, ethical as well as

health challenges.

“Consumers face violations such as offering products with

expired dates, defacing of labels, no labels and overall

failure to label properly. Government is therefore not

only concerned about the failure of some entities in the

food-value chain to stick to the parameters of the law in

order to ensure consumer safety, but also the impact that

mislabelling has on producers, importers and retailers of

various food products. The inappropriate disclosure of

the country of origin particularly creates challenges for

both consumers and companies, and therefore the need

to adhere to the rules of origin parameters as commonly

accepted in international trade,” said Minister Davies at

the seminar.

The seminar was a follow up to food labelling challenges

that were identified recently, including the issues identified

in the report on species substitution and mislabelling

detected in meat products as well as the investigations

conducted by the NCC.

The seminar took a holistic view in respect of how issues

of food labelling affect consumers, the domestic as well as

the offensive interests of South African companies abroad.

The seminar also focused on the trends and developments

regarding the labelling of food products in the consumer

market, the food labelling regulations within the context of

the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) of 2008 in South Africa

and the respective state of enforcement/compliance or lack

thereof, the risks and consequences of misrepresentation

and non-compliance with food labelling regulations,

country of origin food labelling requirements as well as the

approaches to effectively enforce food labelling regulations

in the country.

The seminar was attended by all stakeholders in the food

industry, specifically food-industry associations in the

various sub-sectors, policy makers, retailers, importers,

exporters, regulators, lobby groups, activists, academics

and other experts concerned with food labelling and

consumer protection issues.

The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) and the National Consumer Commission (NCC)

recently hosted a seminar on Food Labelling and Consumer Protection in South Africa, at Diep

in die Berg in Pretoria on Wednesday, 25 November 2015.

NRCS | Industry Bulletin • Third Quarter | Oct - Dec 2015 7

Image source: ips.lk

Issued by NRCS

For comments and contributions please email:

Daniel Ramarumo at ramarund@nrcs.org.za orMirriam Moswaane at moswaamm@nrcs.org.za

For more information:Call +27 (0) 12 482 8700or visit our website at

www.nrcs.org.za