By Mthokozisi Nkosi, Food Scientist, SAATCA Registered R638:2018 Lead Implementer (SAATCA register RG003), Lead Auditor registered with Exemplar Global and IRCA, Founder of ASC Food Safety Consultants. Updated November 2026.
Short answer: in East London, Qonce and the rest of the metro, the Certificate of Acceptability (COA) is issued by Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality’s Municipal Health Services department, which falls under the Directorate: Public Safety and Emergency Services. I could not find a COA form, fee or online portal on the municipality’s website, so start by phoning BCM Customer Care on 043 722 0660 (Monday to Friday, 08h00 to 16h30) and asking to be put through to Municipal Health Services for the application form. You then apply in writing, an environmental health practitioner (EHP) inspects, and the certificate is issued in the name of the person in charge. Get that person trained first, because R638 training is one of the things the EHP checks.
Who issues the COA in Buffalo City
Buffalo City is a metro, so it provides municipal health services itself. On the municipality’s website, the Directorate: Public Safety and Emergency Services says it manages two departments, “Municipal Health Services & Public Safety”. Municipal Health Services is the department whose EHPs inspect food premises. Its General Manager, Luyanda Madikizela, is the official the municipality quotes on food premises enforcement.
I will be straight with you: Buffalo City publishes much less about the COA process online than Durban, Cape Town or Nelson Mandela Bay. There is no downloadable form or tariff on the pages I checked. So this post tells you to phone first rather than print an office address that may be out of date.
How to apply when the form is not online
Regulation 3(2) of R638 says the person in charge applies in writing to the local authority, and regulation 3(3) says the local authority refers the application to an inspector. In practice in Buffalo City:
- Phone Customer Care on 043 722 0660 and ask for Municipal Health Services. Ask which office covers your premises, what form they use, what documents they want attached and whether there is a fee.
- While you wait for the form, prepare the information it will ask for. R638 itself carries a model application form in Annexure A. It asks for the person in charge’s details and ID, the premises address and erf number, vehicle registration numbers, the food you handle, expected quantities, what you do with the food, staff numbers and, where applicable, a layout plan at a scale of 1:50.
- Submit the form and attachments as the office instructs, and keep proof of the date you handed it in.
- Prepare for the inspection. Our COA application checklist covers the documents most offices ask for.
Use the waiting time to train your person in charge
While you wait for the Buffalo City form, the person in charge can complete the R638 training online. The ASC Food Safety Practices for Persons in Charge course is on the SAATCA register for R638 Person in Charge training, is HPCSA CPD accredited and is run by a FoodBev SETA accredited training provider. It is fully online, self paced, and ends in a video proctored assessment.
About the provider: ASC Food Safety is an Exemplar Global Recognised Training Provider, with 28 of its auditor, HACCP, GMP and ISO courses recognised.
What the Buffalo City EHP checks
The COA inspection is against R638. The EHP looks at structure and finishes, hand-wash and toilet facilities, water and waste, temperature control, pest control, protective clothing under regulation 9 and food handler duties under regulation 11. They will also ask for your training programme and records, which regulation 10(1)(d) says must be kept and made available to an inspector.
What is specific to Buffalo City is how often the metro is out checking. In May 2026 the municipality reported that its food premises by-law enforcement compliance operations were continuing. Mr Madikizela said the metro identifies premises and checks them for health and safety compliance, environmental and hygiene standards, licence conditions, and tax and immigration status. So the COA is not a one-off hurdle. An existing restaurant or takeaway in East London should expect a joint operation at the door, not only a scheduled COA visit.
Earlier spaza operations show what EHPs remove from shelves. In April 2024 the municipality reported that joint operations involving Municipal Health Services had raided 131 spaza shops since February that year and confiscated food worth over R90 000, including unpasteurised amasi, unlabelled chips and juices, and dented, unlabelled cans. Those were informal shops, but the lesson applies to any food business: unlabelled and damaged stock is an easy finding. If you get a list of findings, read what the person in charge must do after EHP findings.
Where Buffalo City applications wait
Getting the form. Because there is no form online, the first wait is simply reaching the right office. Phone early in the day and write down the name of the person you spoke to.
Requests for more information. Regulation 3(4) of R638 lets the inspector ask you or anyone else for further information before the inspection. Incomplete answers start that loop.
Inspector capacity. In his reply to parliamentary question NW3555 (asked in June 2025), the Minister of Health put the Eastern Cape at 203 functional EHPs in 2024/25, a shortage of 520, about one EHP for every 34 000 people. That is a provincial figure, but it means a failed first inspection can leave you waiting for a re-visit. A pre-COA audit is the cheaper route.
Why the person in charge should be trained first
Regulation 10(1)(a) requires the person in charge to be suitably qualified or adequately trained in food safety and hygiene, with accredited training where applicable. The certificate is issued in that person’s name. If they leave, the new person in charge must be reported in writing within 30 days and a new COA is issued, under regulation 3(8). See why a COA does not transfer to a new owner.
The course takes about 16 hours, self paced. If you have several supervisors or sites, team seats cost R7 645 for 5 or R14 440 for 10. Staff need their own training under regulation 10(1)(b); see who needs which course. For the national picture, read the 2026 guide to the Certificate of Acceptability, and for local options see food safety training in East London.
Questions from East London owners
Can I apply for a COA online in Buffalo City? Not that I could find. The municipality’s website does not show an online COA portal or a downloadable form, so phone Customer Care and ask for Municipal Health Services.
How much does a COA cost in Buffalo City? The municipality does not publish the fee on the pages I checked. Ask when you request the form, and ask how to pay.
My premises are outside the metro. Who do I apply to? Outside the eight metros, municipal health services are provided by the district municipality for your area, so contact that district’s environmental health office instead.
Start with the person in charge: enrol on the Food Safety Practices for Persons in Charge course.
