Operation Dudula members say threats of arresting them won’t deter them from their goal of making sure that foreign nationals don’t register their spaza shops at the Jabulani Civic Centre in Soweto. This was in reaction MEC Lebogang Maile’s saying that they should be arrested for disrupting the registration process.

READY FOR ANYTHING 

One of the Dudula members, Michael Thamaga, told Zimoja that he left his house in the morning ready for arrest. "I told my wife that it was possible that I was not going to come back home because there was chance I would be arrested and end up in jail," he said. He added that as a country, a lot has gone unnoticed and because people don’t have extensive knowledge of the law, they end up being taken advantage of. "We are here to fight for our rights; it’s common knowledge that I can’t pack up and leave South Africa for Somalia and decide to open a spaza shop there. Their laws don’t allow that and the same laws apply even in this country, but they are overlooked. It is written in black and white that no foreigner can open a shop, hair salon or become a vendor in a foreign country," he said.

POLICE TO BE DEPLOYED

Maile said the registration for foreign nationals won’t be as easy as it looks. "Foreign nationals will be required to provide valid documentation from the Department of Home Affairs authorising them to operate a business in South Africa. This must be in the form of a valid business visa or work permit." He added, "The eligibility for a business visa, as per South African law, is that a foreign national must invest a prescribed amount of R5 million into an existing business or provide a business plan with evidence of R5 million capital contribution," he said. Maile said police will be deployed to the 85 identified registration points across Gauteng. This comes after locals attempted to register on behalf of foreign nationals but were turned away from the Jabulani Civic Centre. "Now that the police know where these registration points are, we want them to zoom into them. We will also discuss with the Commissioner of Police about police visibility and there has to be some plan because police can’t plan without intelligence," he added Registration points will be at the City of Tshwane, Mogale City Local Municipality, Rand West Local Municipality, City of Ekurhuleni, Emfuleni Local Municipality, Lesedi Local Municipality and the City of Johannesburg.