The National Consumer Commission (NCC) hereby provides its first periodic update on product recalls that it administered from 1 April to 30 June 2024 and the first month of quarter 2. In this period the NCC received 20 product recall notifications as initiated by various suppliers.

Of the 20 recalls the NCC is administering, seven are for motor vehicle components, and the affected brands include Mercedes Benz, Chery, Ford, as well as Citroen and Jeep under Stellantis. Other product recalls the NCC is administering are APC Symmetra PX 9Ah Battery Unit, Marcel’s Frozen (Peanut Butter Flavoured) Yoghurt 175ml, Thule RideAlong, Trojan Boxing bag / Punching Bag, Woolworths Country Road two-tone denim mug, Dark and Lovely Moisture Plus Kit, Trilogy Slow Cooker, Knorr Onion Gravy, Ensure Gold Plant-Based Supplement, Capio™ SLIM Suture Capturing Device, Condere Switched Socket – Outlet (CN – K034) and Boston Scientific WallFlex™ Esophageal Stent System. The details of each product recalled are provided in the annexure to this statement.

While suppliers of the affected products or goods indicated that they contacted individual consumers, not all consumers have returned their products or goods to the suppliers. To ensure that these product recalls are successfully closed, consumers who bought the affected products or goods are urged to contact relevant suppliers for appropriate redress.

Read the full Media Statement below:

The Annexures below outline the progress made.

Quarter 1 (1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024): Product recalls the NCC is monitoring

Nr	Supplier	Product	Defect
1	Marcel’s Gourmet Frozen Yoghurt (Pty) Ltd	Marcel’s Frozen Yoghurt Peanut Butter 175ml	The production batch: 16.11.23 tested out of specification for aflatoxins due to peanut butter raw material.
2	Thule AB	Thule RideAlong	The harness padding of the Thule RideAlong bike seats can contain flame-retardant DecaBDE in excess of regulatory limits, posing a chemical hazard.
3	Stellantis South Africa	Jeep Takata Passenger Airbag Inflator	The passenger airbag inflator may rupture during airbag deployment phase.
4	Mercedes-Benz South Africa Limited (9190101)	Mercedes-Benz Model GLE(167)	On certain GLE and GLS (167 platform) vehicles, the 48V ground connection under the passenger seat might have come loose. In this case, the cable lug of the ground line would not be secured correctly. Subsequently, the electric resistance of the connection might increase. In combination with the high electrical currents potentially flowing through this connection, the temperature in this area might increase. Consequently, a risk of fire cannot be ruled out completely.
5	Mercedes-Benz South Africa Limited (5499117)	Mercedes-Benz Model CLA(118), A-Class(177), EQA/EQB(243), GLB(247)	The fallback level of the steering software may not correspond to the specifications in certain CLA (model series 118), A-Class (model series 177), EQA/EQB (model series 243), and B-Class/GLA/GLB (model series 247) model series right-hand drive vehicles. In the event of a non-system-related and independent hardware fault, the fallback level of the steering would be activated. In the vehicles affected by the issue, the fallback level may not respond as intended in this extremely rare case. Consequently, power steering may be impaired and a loss of steerability cannot be ruled out, which would increase the risk of accident and injury. In addition, the legal boundary conditions may not be met.
6	Mercedes-Benz South Africa Limited (8297011)	Mercedes-Benz C-Class (206 platform), E-Class (214 platform), S-Class (223 platform), SL (232 platform), CLE (236 platform), GLC (254 platform), EQE SUV (294 platform), EQE (295 platform), EQS SUV (296 platform) and EQS (297 platform) vehicles, certain 80A fuses installed might not meet requirements.	On certain C-Class (206), E-Class (214), S-Class (223), SL (232), CLE (236), GLC (254), EQE SUV (294), EQE (295), EQS SUV (296) and EQS (297) vehicles, the 80A fuses unfortunately may not correspond to the requirements.
7	Schneider Electric South Africa	APC Symmetra PX 9Ah Battery Unit	An internal battery nonconformance that may lead to localized overheating of the battery module assembly and adjacent components.
8	Stellantis South Africa	Takata (Driver & Passenger Airbag Inflator) for Citroen vehicles	The driver and passenger airbag inflator may rupture during airbag deployment phase.
9	Chery International (Pty) Ltd	Chery Tiggo 4 Pro CVT	Dislodgement of rear axle.
10	Massmart	Trojan (Boxing bag / Punching Bag) bought by customers from Game and Makro from the 19th of January 2024	A foreign metal object in the Bag.
11	Woolworths (Pty) Ltd	Country road two-tone denim mug	A manufacturing defect have been identified in certain mugs, causing the mug to unexpectedly break when hot liquid is poured into it, resulting in the base separating from the body of the mug.
12	L'Oréal South Africa (Pty) Ltd as distributor and ("LSA")	Dark and lovely Moisture Plus Kit (regular and super) plus and Dark and Lovely Anti Breakage Kits (50ml Single-Use Neutralising Shampoo)	The presence of bacteria in the Neutralising Shampoo.
13	Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (Manufacturing) (Pty) Ltd	23B89 – Ranger - Cylinder Head inspection	Some of the affected motor vehicles have been manufactured with a cylinder head that could potentially be partially blocked.
14	Homechoice	Trilogy Slow Cooker	The mains lead is too long and does not have a heat-resistant sleeve on it.
15	Abbott Laboratories	Ensure Gold Plant-Based Almond Flavour Nutritional Supplement	The words “Not suitable for milk allergy” and “May contain milk” was not included on the label for the impacted lots in South Africa. Possible cross-contamination as the product is made in a manufacturing facility that processes dairy / milk products and therefore traces of milk protein may be found in the product.
16	Mercedes-Benz South Africa Limited (5496226	Mercedes-Benz Model EQ	The software of the battery management system in certain vehicles of model series EQE SUV (BR 294), EQE (BR 295), EQS SUV (BR 296) and EQS (BR 297) could lead to deactivation of the high-voltage system in specific situations.
17	Boston Scientific	Capio™ SLIM Suture Capturing Device	The device is not catching the suture needle / dart as expected during use. Certain tooling used to manufacture Capio SLIM devices may have inadvertently affected component dimensions in specific lots, impacting the functionality of the device.

Quarter 2 (1 July 2024 to date): Product recalls the NCC is monitoring

Nr	Supplier	Product	Defect
1	Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd	Knorr Onion Gravy	A limited batch of consumer units of the Knorr “Professional Brown Sauce Base” product was improperly packed by a third-party contractor into the Knorr “Brown Onion Gravy” packaging. Cow’s milk and soy allergens are present by composition but not declared in the ingredient list. The product label does carry precautionary/ “may contain” statements for cow’s milk and soya.
2	Condere	Condere Switched Socket – Outlet (CN – K034)	Noncompliant to compulsory specifications, i.e., VC 8008. Supplier instructed to recall by the NRCS post inspection/verification following a complaint by the dtic.
3	Boston Scientific	WallFlex™ Esophageal Stent System and Agile™ Esophageal Over the Wire (OTW) Stent System	Potential for delivery catheter tip detachment.