Accredited food safety training in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.
Food safety training for Ekurhuleni food premises, from Tembisa to Nigel
In Ekurhuleni the Certificate of Acceptability is issued free of charge by the Environmental Health division of the City of Ekurhuleni’s Health and Social Development Department. You book the inspection at your nearest customer care centre, an environmental health practitioner visits and asks for training records, and the City has warned publicly about fraudsters who charge for fake certificates.
Ekurhuleni produces close to a quarter of Gauteng’s economic output and holds the Jet Park, Isando and Spartan industrial triangle around OR Tambo International Airport, which handles more than 300 000 tons of freight a year (City of Ekurhuleni). Add the Ekurhuleni Fresh Produce Market in Springs, the factory belts of Wadeville and Alrode, and the spaza economies of Tembisa, Katlehong and Vosloorus.
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Which course do I need in Ekurhuleni?
Pick your situation. Each one goes straight to the right course and price.
A Certificate of Acceptability for my premisesPersons in Charge · R1 699 · 16h A food handler certificate for workFood Handlers · R899 · 6h A spaza shop, tuck shop or market stallInformal Traders and Spaza Shops · R999 · 6h HACCP or GMP training for my teamThree HACCP levels from R1 195 · group pricing FSSC 22000, ISO 22000 or BRCGS certificationIntroduction, transition and implementation On-site or group training in EkurhuleniBulk enrolment, one invoice, manager dashboardCertificate of Acceptability in Ekurhuleni
Who issues it, what the inspector checks, and the training you must show.
Read the full Certificate of Acceptability guide and the city by city R638 guide.
In Ekurhuleni the Certificate of Acceptability is issued by the City of Ekurhuleni, through its Environmental Health division of the Health Department. An environmental health practitioner inspects the premises and recommends the certificate in the name of the person in charge, as Regulation 3 of R638 requires. Official page: City of Ekurhuleni: food safety notice.
Whoever issues it, the inspection follows the same regulation. R638 requires the person in charge to be trained (regulation 10(1)(d)) and to keep a record that every food handler has been trained, and the inspector can ask for those records at any visit. Certificates from ASC show the accreditation details and a QR code, so the record is verifiable on the spot.
Ekurhuleni is the manufacturing and logistics heart of Gauteng: O.R. Tambo International Airport and its special economic zone, which includes agro-processing, the Isando, Jet Park and Wadeville industrial belts, and the City-owned Ekurhuleni Fresh Produce Market in Springs, the third largest municipal market in the province. Industrial and food-manufacturing areas we train in include Isando, Jet Park, Spartan, Wadeville, Germiston South, Alrode, Elandsfontein, Chloorkop, Pomona and Meadowdale.
- Persons in Charge for the owner or manager named on the certificate
- Food Handlers for every person who touches food, drink or packaging
- Records: training register, illness reports, cleaning, temperature and pest control (regulation 10)
- Documents: the R638 toolkit gives you the policies, forms and registers, 15% off with a course
Where to apply in Ekurhuleni
Where and how to apply for a Certificate of Acceptability in Ekurhuleni.
City of Ekurhuleni Health and Social Development Department, Environmental Health Division, through the environmental health office for your customer care area. Contact details below were checked against the municipality’s own website on 6 September 2026; phone before you travel, because offices, hours and numbers change.
Offices and contacts
| Office | Phone |
|---|---|
| Environmental Health Services, Alberton head office | 011 999 2968 (enquiries) and 011 999 2970 (inspection requests) |
| Kempton Park | 011 999 6461 |
| Boksburg and Vosloorus | 011 999 5407 |
| Benoni and Daveyton | 011 999 6431 |
| Brakpan | 011 999 8148 |
| Springs and KwaThema | 011 999 9001 |
| Nigel | 011 999 6663 |
| Edenvale | 011 999 3335 |
| Tsakane and Duduza | 011 999 8200 |
| Alberton and Germiston | 011 999 0347, 011 999 5737, 011 999 0530 |
| Katlehong and Thokoza | 011 999 2347, 011 999 2466 |
Applications are handed in at any of the City’s customer care centres, open Monday to Friday 08:00 to 16:30; the environmental health office then arranges the inspection.
Official pages and forms
- City of Ekurhuleni: registering spaza shops and food premises (customer care centre list)
- City of Ekurhuleni business licence application form and checklist (PDF)
- City of Ekurhuleni: know the safety of the food you buy and eat (office numbers)
- Certificate of Acceptability fee notice
- Environmental Health Tariffs 2025/26 (Schedule 22, PDF)
- Certificate of Acceptability scam warning
How to apply
- Phone 011 999 2970 or visit your customer care centre to request an inspection and the forms.
- An environmental health practitioner inspects the premises against R638.
- Pay the administration fee at a City pay point once the premises is approved.
- Display the certificate; the City’s spaza shop policy provides for re-inspection so keep the records current.
Documents to prepare
- ID or work permit of the person in charge, and CIPC registration for a company
- Zoning certificate or landlord consent, title deed or landlord letter
- Building plan and occupancy certificate, and a municipal account statement
- SARS tax clearance for the business licence
- The Certificate of Acceptability itself is requested through the environmental health office and attached to the licence application
Fee and turnaround
R969 administration fee for issuing a Certificate of Acceptability and R485 for a re-issue, paid only at City pay points after the inspection (Schedule 22, Environmental Health Tariffs 2025/26). Environmental health practitioners never collect cash. Not published.
What the inspector checks
Date marking and expired or damaged stock, storage temperatures, general hygiene, pest control, hand-wash facilities and the training record for every handler (City food safety notice, 13 March 2025).
The City has warned of people posing as inspectors and collecting cash for certificates: the fee is paid at City pay points only.
Local detail, verified September 2026
What is different about Ekurhuleni
- Who issues the certificate. The Environmental Health division, one of four divisions of the City of Ekurhuleni Health and Social Development Department, whose mandate includes making sure food exposed for sale is safe and fit for human consumption (City of Ekurhuleni departments page).
- No fee, and the City says so in writing. In a press release on a Certificate of Acceptability scam, the City states that a CoA is compulsory for all food premises and is issued free of charge, that operators should visit their nearest customer care centre to arrange an inspection, and that anyone claiming to be an EHP must show identification (City of Ekurhuleni). No turnaround time is published.
- Where to walk in. Spaza and food business registration ran through customer care centres in 18 areas: Alberton, Benoni, Boksburg, Brakpan, Daveyton, Duduza, Edenvale, Etwatwa, Germiston, Katlehong (two), Kempton Park, KwaThema, Nigel, Springs, Tembisa, Thokoza, Tsakane and Vosloorus, weekdays 08:00 to 16:30 (City of Ekurhuleni township economy notice).
- The business licence is separate and does cost. The Economic Development Department’s business licence checklist requires a Certificate of Acceptability from the Environmental Health division for any business selling meals or perishable foodstuff, and the City’s May 2026 compliance reminder put the licence fee at R825, valid for 12 months (Brakpan Herald, City of Ekurhuleni form).
- Spaza Shop Policy. The City’s Spaza Shop Policy, 2024, published in February 2025, requires a Certificate of Acceptability that complies with R638 and says it should be issued bi-annually to allow regular inspections, alongside zoning consent and approval from the Environmental Resources and Waste Management Department (City of Ekurhuleni policy PDF).
- The drive in numbers. By 2 February 2025 Ekurhuleni had carried out 9 433 inspections, found 8 848 non-compliant facilities, issued 109 Certificates of Acceptability and closed 5 premises (TimesLIVE). The Public Protector’s July 2026 report found only 5% of Ekurhuleni spaza shops properly licensed, the lowest in Gauteng, and EHP capacity at 23% of the benchmark (The Citizen).
- Enforcement is EMPD plus Environmental Health. In June 2025 the EMPD By-Law and Compliance Unit and Environmental Health closed six spaza shops in Alberton, Edenvale and Katlehong (Kempton Express). On 13 May 2026 the Bronberg precinct and Environmental Health closed a Benoni wholesale supermarket trading on a Certificate of Acceptability that had expired in 2015 and selling food years past its date (Germiston City News).
- Nearest ASC trainer. Ekurhuleni is served on request. Group and on-site training is arranged with an ASC trainer travelling from the Johannesburg branch in Ferndale, Randburg, or delivered online with a manager dashboard.
Sources
- City of Ekurhuleni, Health and Social Development
- City of Ekurhuleni, CoA scam press release
- City of Ekurhuleni, spaza registration notice
- City of Ekurhuleni, business licence checklist (PDF)
- Brakpan Herald, 11 May 2026
- City of Ekurhuleni, Spaza Shop Policy (PDF)
- TimesLIVE, 2 February 2025
- The Citizen, Public Protector remedial action
- Kempton Express, 15 June 2025
- Germiston City News, 16 May 2026
- City of Ekurhuleni, reasons to invest
- City of Ekurhuleni, fresh produce market
Courses Ekurhuleni businesses buy most
Six courses cover almost every food premises in Ekurhuleni.
- Food Safety Practices for Persons in Charge of Food Premises ★ 4.77 (101) R1 699 Enrol
- Basic Food Safety Practices for Food Handlers ★ 4.76 (58) R899 Enrol
- Basic Food Hygiene Awareness for Food Handlers ★ 4.86 (21) R420 Enrol
-
Food Safety Practices for Informal Traders and Spaza Shops
★ 4.88 (8)
R1 195R999 Enrol - Implementation of Good Manufacturing Practices ★ 5.00 (3) R1 950 Enrol
- Introduction to HACCP ★ 4.90 (10) R1 195 Enrol
- Basic Food Safety Document Templates Toolkit Templates Documents R699 View toolkit
Prices are the price you pay; no VAT is charged. The Basic Food Safety Bundle covers Persons in Charge, Food Handlers and Hygiene Awareness together at R2 264. HACCP for Supervisors and Advanced HACCP, FSSC 22000, ISO 22000, BRCGS and GLOBALG.A.P. are on the Enrol page.
Who trains with ASC in Ekurhuleni
Written for the food businesses that operate in Ekurhuleni
The Jet Park, Isando and Spartan triangle between the R21, R24 and N12 holds cold chain depots, importers and third party logistics warehouses moving perishable air freight. Every handler needs R638 training; quality teams need HACCP that airline and retail customers recognise.
Ekurhuleni produces close to a quarter of Gauteng’s output, and its factory belts include food, beverage and packaging plants that supply national retailers. GMP and HACCP for supervisors, Food Handlers for the line, Persons in Charge for the site manager named on the certificate.
The Ekurhuleni Fresh Produce Market in Springs has 15 000 square metres of trading floor, 17 cold rooms and 24 ripening rooms and is the third largest municipal market in Gauteng. Agents, ripening room staff and the hawkers who buy there fall under R638.
With 5% of spaza shops licensed and joint EMPD and Environmental Health operations running, the townships are where inspections land first. The Informal Traders and Spaza Shops course prepares the owner for the EHP visit that the customer care centre books.
On-site and in-house training
Train a Ekurhuleni kitchen, plant or franchise group on one dashboard.
Group and on-site training in Ekurhuleni is arranged on request, delivered by an ASC trainer travelling from the Johannesburg branch or online with a manager dashboard.
- Send the learner countWhatsApp or the contact form. Quote within one working day, one invoice, no VAT.
- Learners train online or on sitePhone, tablet or laptop, self-paced for the R638 courses. On-site sessions through the Johannesburg branch.
- Manager dashboardSee who has finished, download certificates, and hand the inspector a training record for every site.
Add the documents. The Basic Food Safety Document Templates Toolkit (R699, 40+ editable Word and Excel policies, procedures, forms and checklists aligned to R638) is 15% off when you buy it with any R638 course. Tell us on WhatsApp +27 61 483 0381 or the contact form which course you are enrolling in, and we invoice both with the discount applied.
Questions from Ekurhuleni
What Ekurhuleni food businesses ask before they enrol.
Anything else, message us on WhatsApp during office hours or use the support page.
Who issues the Certificate of Acceptability in Ekurhuleni?
The Environmental Health division of the City of Ekurhuleni Health and Social Development Department. You go to your nearest customer care centre, for example Kempton Park, Germiston, Boksburg, Benoni, Springs, Alberton or Tembisa, to arrange the inspection, and an environmental health practitioner visits the premises.
Is the Ekurhuleni Certificate of Acceptability free?
Yes. The City states that the CoA is compulsory for all food premises and is issued free of charge, and it has warned about people posing as EHPs and charging for fake certificates. The business licence from the Economic Development Department is a separate step and costs R825 for 12 months.
What does the Ekurhuleni inspection involve?
An EHP checks the premises against R638: finishes, hand-wash facilities, water, waste, temperature control, pest control, personal hygiene and the training record for the person in charge and every handler. Ekurhuleni runs joint operations with the EMPD By-Law and Compliance Unit, and in 2025 and 2026 it closed premises for expired certificates and out of date stock.
Will an Ekurhuleni EHP accept an online ASC certificate?
R638 requires that the person in charge is trained and keeps a record that every handler is trained (regulation 10(1)(d)); it does not prescribe the delivery method. ASC certificates carry a QR code the EHP can scan to verify the learner and the course. ASC is a SAATCA registered provider, TC 065, for the R638 Persons in Charge course, and a FoodBev SETA accredited provider (587/00337/1900).
Can ASC train a group at a plant or depot in Ekurhuleni?
Yes, on request. Send the learner count and site address on WhatsApp or the contact form. An ASC trainer travels from the Johannesburg branch in Ferndale, Randburg, or the team trains online on one invoice with a manager dashboard that shows who has finished and holds the certificates for the EHP.
Also serving
Food safety training near Ekurhuleni.
This page covers the whole City of Ekurhuleni: Kempton Park, Tembisa, Edenvale, Bedfordview, Germiston, Alberton, Katlehong, Thokoza, Boksburg, Vosloorus, Benoni, Daveyton, Brakpan, Springs, KwaThema, Tsakane, Duduza and Nigel. Sandton, Midrand and the rest of the City of Johannesburg are on the Johannesburg page, where the nearest ASC branch is; Centurion, Pretoria and Bronkhorstspruit are on the Tshwane page; Heidelberg and the Vaal towns are on the Vaal Triangle page.