Tensions are high in Soweto as members of Operation Dudula, supported by the community, have chased away South Africans who want to register spaza shops on behalf of illegal foreign nationals. They held a stop-and-search operation on every civilian attempting to enter the Jabulani Civic Centre.
NOT HERE TO PLAY
Dropped just a few metres away from the civic centre, a man who had documents in his hands was stopped by the furious crowd and asked what he came to do. Before he could answer, the documents were snatched away from him and inspected for dodgy details. Upon discovering that the documents belonged to a foreign national, anger brewed and the man was quickly surrounded and questioned. "Was it a foreign national that came to drop you off to register on his behalf?" asked an angry community member, to which the man responded yes. The man claimed he didn't know that there was a picket to stop foreigners from registering their spaza shops. "Do you think we are fools to wake up early and come here to make sure that it's only South Africans who register their spaza shops? Do we look like fools to you? You hate your own family and countrymates to the point that you continue risking lives by coming here to register the very same spaza shops who kill our children. You will reap what you sow the day these foreign nationals chase you out of your own home," said an angry woman who identified herself only as Lydia.
LOCALS SAY THEY WILL NOT SUCCEED
Thabo Mbhele (54) who is a spaza shop owner from Protea Glen said the business is tough for South Africans. "You won't believe me when I tell you that in my street there are six spaza shops owned by foreign nationals and I'm the seventh one. Making money is hard,and having to stock knowing that you won't get support for your fellow South Africans is painful. I even tried to give them credit but they don't pay. The next thing you see them passing your house with an attitude, going to buy from bo my friend," he said. He added that he was disappointed at President Cyril Ramaphosa for leaving a mess behind in his own country. "Instead of saying foreign nationals should pack and go, he gives them 21 days to register their businesses in our country. This is not Ramaphosa's country; it's ours. if he can't run it, he must step down and spend all his time with foreigners in their own countries, not here," he said. The Jabulani Civic Centre issued a notice that they've stopped registrations until further notice.
