Z
outpansberger
12 Junie 2020
News with an independent soul
PRYS: R5,00 BTW Ing.
www.zoutpansberger.co.za Joubertstraat 16B Louis Trichardt TEL: 516 4996/7/8
Beitbridge to become one-stop border with steep tolls - page 3
Jaargang 36 Vol. 23
Virus eis ook sy tol onder plaaslike kleuterskole - bladsy 4
ISSN 2409-2835
Audited Distribution Figures
23
9 772409 283001
Row over sanitizer
Seems not all hand sanitizer are created equally when it comes to alcohol By Andries van Zyl Part of the “new normal” about the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic is the compulsory use of hand sanitiser literally everywhere you go. The fact that the use of alcohol-based hand sanitiser kills off the novel coronavirus is well known, but then that sanitiser should at least contain 60% alcohol or more. However, the experiences of the past couple of weeks during lockdown have taught us that not all hand sanitisers are created equal. Popular hand sanitisers in South Africa are those containing at least 70% alcohol. The problem is, how do you really know that what you are buying is exactly what it says on the label? The past few weeks, the Zoutpansberger has received numerous complaints from residents claiming that some people merely use a Jik (bleach) and water mixture as sanitiser. Others claim that some stores are just using a soap solution as hand sanitiser, although many believe that washing your hands with soap is even better than using an alcohol-based sanitiser. The biggest complaint was, however, of people speculating that some stores are not using the correct percentage alcohol-based sanitiser as prescribed by the government. This saw some local store owners’ being threatened with closure by the police for not using the “correct” hand sanitiser. Last week, the Zoutpansberger received a complaint from a local resident (who preferred to remain
anonymous) who claimed that he had gone to a local distributor of hand sanitiser last Thursday to buy some for his home. He said he took the government’s call to sanitise frequently seriously and wanted to make sure his family at home was safe. The one litre of hand sanitiser that he bought indicated on its label that it had a 92% ETHANOL ALCOHOL BASE that “Kills up to 90% Bacteria, Fungus & Viruses.” “That therefore meant that, of the one-litre bottle, only 8% was water,” said the complainant.
To his surprise, however, he could smell almost no alcohol in the soapy blue mixture when he opened the bottle. He even tried to light it with a match but got no reaction. Believing that he had been sold “fake” hand sanitiser, the complainant went back to the store where the sanitiser was purchased and confronted the store manager. According to him, she was at a loss for words when confronted about the “lack of alcohol” and apparently tried to calm him down by stating that perhaps the solution was just a handwash. “I did
not spend R110 to buy handwash. I asked for hand sanitiser and that is exactly what the label said … They are playing with people’s lives,” said the complainant. The Zoutpansberger visited the store on Friday and found that similar one-litre bottles on the shelf had no labels on them, while the labels on the larger and smaller quantities of the same hand sanitiser read: ‘ETHANOL ALCOHOL BASED with Aloe Vera & Anti-Bacterial’. No mention was
The initial label stating that the hand sanitiser contains 92% alcohol.
made anywhere on the label of the product’s actual alcohol content as was the case on the label of the bottle the complainant had bought a day before. This raised numerous questions, the main one being what the hand sanitiser’s actual alcohol content was then? In an effort to answer this question, the Zoutpansberger contacted the company. The company confirmed the confrontation with the complainant and added that they had even offered to refund the customer, less a handling fee, if he was unhappy with the product. The company was adamant, however, that no foul play had occurred from their side and that their products were up to standard. “The sanitiser that we have … is ethanol alcohol based with aloe vera and an anti-bacterial agent. The addition of the aloe vera and anti-bacterial makes it non-flammable. Our supplier has supplied mortuaries in Gauteng, including government mortuaries, with the products we have for over 10 years. We have supplied the three private hospitals in Louis Trichardt and various doctors with our products, all of whom were satisfied that it is a high-quality sanitiser. Our initial two deliveries were 88-92% alcohol, but due to the extreme demand and nationwide shortage of alcohol just before the lockdown, we were supplied a delivery (our current stock) with 70% alcohol,” the owner explained. (Contd on p. 2)