‘Enough is enough with foreign nationals, they must go!’, read posters held by protesters. Picture: Action SA
ActionSA has called for the localisation of all spaza shops following numerous incidents of children getting ill and some dying after consuming snacks bought in these shops.
In a protest on Thursday at KwaMashu, Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal, the political party teamed up with the North Region Business Association (Norba) and the INK Investment Stokvel which represents Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu spaza shop owners.
“The protest is directed against foreign-national-owned spaza shops in the area, which have been selling expired and contaminated food to residents, including young children,” said ActionSA.
Zamo Shange, a representative of Norba and the INK Investment Stokvel, said they have been outspoken about the problems with foreign national-owned tuck shops since 2015.
“They disrupt small business owned by the locals in townships. We have to fight with them in the township economy which is already sparse ... What the President (Cyril Ramaphosa) has proposed (spaza shop registration) is unclear and not easy to understand.
“He said everyone with a spaza shop should register? We really want to understand because we need foreign nationals to leave spaza shops to local entrepreneurs. Foreign policy denotes that a foreign national can have businesses in the country but, not one that already exists,” Shange said.
ActionSA’s provincial chairperson Zwakele Mncwango who was at the protest said he had come, not to represent the party and its politics, but to support the locals.
“We have seen the issues you are facing. In the eThekwini Municipality we forwarded a motion to put forth an investigation into spaza shops owned by foreign nationals. However, the ruling party struck it down. This was two months go,” he said.
Mncwango said he was shocked by the president giving spaza shop owners 21 days to register their businesses.
“As ActionSA, we have proposed a Bill in Parliament in which we want 100% of spaza shops to be owned by locals.
“We do not want any discussion whether someone has registered or not. If you’re not South African, the law should prohibit you from owning a spaza shop. There also should be a budget and fund to support small township entrepreneurs.”
He added that such entrepreneurs create jobs while the government complains daily about the high unemployment rate. Mncwango accused Mayor Cyril Xaba of looking down at the township economy.
“That’s why he did not show up. This industry contributes R500 billion to the GDP. That is a huge amount, so, South Africans should be the ones benefiting from this.”
IOL