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Operation Dudula cautiously welcomes will to deal with foreign-run spaza shops

todayFebruary 21, 2024 152

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Residents hold placards as they protest against the rise of crime in the area in Diepsloot, South Africa, on April 6, 2022. (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP)

Operation Dudula says while it welcomes the ANC’s decision to finally show efforts to deal with the issue of foreign-run spaza shops, it views the governing party’s move as an electioneering stunt.

It says the ANC has shown no political will to deal with illegal migration in the country.

Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, on Monday called on mayors to audit spaza shops in their areas to ensure that the shops and their owners are registered.

Motsoaledi’s department, along with COGTA, have developed by-laws that prevent undocumented people from running businesses in the country.

The move came just days after a Grade 6 learner died after allegedly eating biscuits her dad had bought from a local spaza shop owned by foreign nationals in the south of Joburg.

Operation Dudula’s Deputy Secretary Isaac Lesole outlines what the proclamation will deal with.

Lesole says now that by-laws have been set up, they will want to find out which official within each government department will be dealing with this matter.

This, he says, is due to their belief that individuals who would assist foreigners illegally are committing treason and should be held accountable.

Operation says it will mobilise fellow South Africans and business to help ensure that these by-laws are respected and will not just be a gimmick for electioneering.

The party has long called for tighter laws to deal with the foreign-owned spaza shops, which, sometimes, sell expired and counterfeit goods. Close to a dozen children have died in the country after allegedly consuming items from the migrant businesspeople.

Lesole has partly blamed the governing party of the children’s death, saying it continues to allow foreigners to trade without licenses.

Written by: Nokwazi Qumbisa

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