The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police (JMPD) is monitoring Mapetla and Orlando, townships in Soweto, as the residents continue to shut down spaza shops operated by foreign nationals. This follows a clash between the residents and foreign nationals on Saturday, where the community shut down 15 spaza shops in the area.
PROPERTY OWNER AGAINST THE CLOSING DOWN OF SHOPS
Residents are accusing the shop owners of ignoring eviction orders after they failed to vacate the area by Saturday. Angry community members found expired goods in some of the shops and when they confronted the owners, they were met with death threats. Maureen Mkhize, who rented out her shop to one Somali national said that she was against the shutdown. "I really don't understand people who are so eager to take back their shops when they were failing in operating them. They were failing in running the admin of the shops now they are at the forefront of shutting down shops that are being rented by foreign nationals. I know some foreign nationals have done worse things but we have to be selective because not all of them sell expired goods," she said. Mkhize further said that she co-owns the goods that are being sold by her tenant. "There is no one who is going to shut down my shop. We have a good relationship with my tenant and nobody will come and do as they please," she said.
SPAZA SHOPS
The closing down of these spaza shops follows the deaths of children from Naledi and Tshepisong in the past few weeks after they allegedly ate snacks they bought from spaza shops belonging to foreign nationals. JMPD Spokesperson Superintendent Xolani Fihla said they will be keeping a close eye on the Mapetla area to prevent any criminal activities that might occur. "We will be monitoring the situation as more spazas are being shut down around Johannesburg. There have been no death cases that have been reported," he said. In another incident, on Friday angry community members from KwaThema and Tsakane shut down spaza shops and ordered foreign nationals to vacate their area.
