The majority of the expired foodstuff uncovered in the two warehouses in Durban originated from either Nigeria in West Africa and India, in Asia, police said.
Some of the goods had no expiry dates while others had clear expiry dates which had long passed.
The factories were uncovered after an intelligence driven operation carried out by the police in Kwazulu-Natal acting on a directive from Provincial Commissioner, Lt General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and Premier Thami Ntuli.
From Nigeria there was expired ginger beer, 25 litres of cooking oil, sweets with a Nestle logo, fried rice, herbal mixture and medication, according to the police who spoke to African Times and other media present during the raid.
From India came spices, noodles, beauty creams, perfumes, spaghetti, milk (powder, cream and liquid) and juice.
Some of the goods had no mark to show their place of origin and they were rotten, the police added. One pile with 20 litres of buckets had what appeared to be fruit jam and it was already rotten.
In another factory, there was counterfeit clothing stuff of high-end brands like Jordan, Kale Lagerfeld, Nike, Lacoste and soccer kits of British premiership clubs.
Addressing the media at one of the factories on south coast road in the south of Durban, Mkhwanazi said no arrest has been made so far.
He said they are still trying to find the owners of the goods as the warehouse was merely hired to store the goods before they are sent to their final destination.
“They were in the same container, transported together… from here these items get sold in different shops,” he said.
This shocking discovery comes as spaza shop owners of South African origin and foreign nationals scramble to meet the 21 day deadline set by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday last week that they should be formally registered.
During his speech last week on the matter of spaza shops, Ramaphosa announced that the government has banned the selling and use of some pesticides in the country.
This measure is meant to prevent the pesticides from being used to disinfect production areas which then allegedly spills into food sold in spaza shops.
The pressure on Ramaphosa and the government to act on spaza shops came after several learners died in some parts of the country after eating poisoned food.
Some learners in Gauteng, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga had to be hospitalized after eating food allegedly expired or with poison.
