On Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa gave shop owners 21 days to have their affairs in order or shut down. Today, Operation Dudula members protested outside the Jabulani Civic Centre in Soweto, blocking foreign nationals who came to register their spaza shops from doing so.

NOT IN OUR COUNTRY 

The anti-foreign organisation leader Zandile Dabula said they went to the civic centre to block foreign nationals from getting permits or registering their spaza shops. "We've witnessed foreign nationals coming here to register their spaza shops. Yes, the President said he is giving them 21 days to get their permits, but we as South Africans are saying that is not going to happen; we don't want them here," she said. Dabula said that the spaza shops were crime scenes following the deaths of 23 children this year. "I know some will say that the decision to regulate them came from President Cyril Ramaphosa, but if our President decides to prioritise foreign nationals instead of his people, then maybe he needs to step aside and give someone else a chance- he doesn't have the best interests of our children at heart," Dabula added.

REGISTRATIONS NOT ONLY MEANT FOR FOREIGNERS

The spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg, Nthatisi Modingoana, confirmed that there was a march by Operation Dudula to stop foreign nationals from registering spaza shops. "I want to clarify something: we are not registering illegal foreigners in national spaza shops. As a city, we are looking at processes where we can be able to assist all local spaza shop owners. We have started a process where we are running operations to visit these sites and if an illegal foreigner is found, they will be handed over to immigration. So for us, we need people to normalise the trading of local spaza shops," Modingoana said. Dabula said they will continue stopping foreign nationals from registering their spaza shops until they miss the 21-day deadline.