Peanut butter maker to pay R500k penalty for contaminated products
Peanut butter manufacturer House of Natural Butters has agreed to pay an administrative fine of R500,000 after the National Consumer Commission (NCC) received recall notifications in February 2024 from Dis-Chem and Pick n Pay due to elevated levels of aflatoxin found in certain peanut butter.
NCC spokesperson Phetho Ntaba said the NCC found that the affected products had higher than legally acceptable levels of aflatoxin as set out under R1145 Regulation Governing Tolerance of Fungus-Produced Toxins in foodstuffs.
Ntaba said their investigation found that between May and November 2023, House of Natural Butters imported and supplied contaminated, decayed and impure groundnuts and byproducts to South African consumers through various retailers.
In its ruling the National Consumer Tribunal noted that the manufacturer imported the products from Malawi and Zambia using trucks and trailers, via land borders and port entries. It said the trucks and trailers did not have the requisite certificates of acceptability required for the transportation of food.
'Laboratory tests results from various accredited food testing laboratories established that the products were contaminated, decayed and impure,' said Ntaba.
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Daily Maverick
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Daily Maverick
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The challenge isn't just about individual skills development, it's about systemic change. Despite 94% of African organisations now offering IT training monthly (up from 74% previously), budget allocation for training has actually decreased from 14% to 7% of IT and HR budgets, with no organisation spending more than 10%. 'We need to allocate a budget for upskilling our existing workforce,' Pillay insists, warning organisations to 'prepare for an AI-related skills gap in 2025' and 'understand the impact that a lack of skills will have on your business, your employees, and your customers.' What South Africa's AI skills crunch means for you If you're a young job seeker, a business owner, or just trying to future-proof your career, this isn't some distant tech debate; it's your next paycheque. AI isn't optional any more. Whether you're in finance, farming, or fashion, businesses are under pressure to adopt AI, but there's a huge shortage of local talent. Your CV needs more than just coding. AI readiness is about more than programming. Skills in communication, business strategy, ethics, and even psychology are now just as valuable. Training is free, if you know where to look. Companies like Salesforce and Zoho are offering open-access training, internships, and rural digital hubs. Jobs aren't disappearing, they're shifting. Data entry might be automated, but someone still needs to guide the agents. AI is a tool, not a takeover. The more you understand it, the more irreplaceable you become. Think beyond our borders. With SA's youth unemployment pushing 60%, the real opportunity might be global. Local startups and students are already getting remote gigs with international firms. The internet doesn't care about your postcode. Bottom line: If you wait for government policy to catch up, you'll be left behind. Start skilling up now; even ten hours a week can change your trajectory. Disproving the replacement theory Both CRM companies are quick to reject the narrative that AI will simply replace human workers, even though they're selling agentic AI. 'At no point is it creating unemployment,' Fisher argues. 'In the same way, agents are going to make certain things probably redundant, data capture, data analysis, those jobs will grow, right? Because AI can do the data analysis, but then it's going to create new jobs that are more powerful because you have context.' Nizam says Zoho's internal experience suggests a more measured reality: AI provides '30% to 40%' productivity improvement, not the '5x to 10x' often promised, partly because 'reading the AI-generated code is a nightmare.' The reality is that the stakes couldn't be higher – 60% of African organisations view AI skills as critical to their success, but 100% expect to face skills gaps. The companies getting it right are those recognising that in an agentic AI world, the most valuable skill might not be writing code, but understanding how to make machines work better with humans. DM
