In October, the department of home affairs, in partnership with the departments of human settlements, co-operative governance & traditional affairs, and small business development, as well as mayors from metro and district municipalities and traditional leaders, held an international migration workshop.
The aim of the workshop was to discuss the effects of illegal migration into the country.
One of the central issues discussed was the operation of spaza shops by foreign nationals, some of whom are undocumented.
This workshop was held against the backdrop of growing animosities between communities and foreign nationals running informal businesses, particularly in townships and rural areas.
Over the past few months, there have been numerous reports of children falling ill or dying after consuming goods purchased at spaza shops owned by foreign nationals.
While there is no definitive proof that the children died or fell ill due to having consumed those goods, or that the sellers adulterated or tampered with the goods in any way, communities have decided that foreign nationals are to blame.
A week ago, minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshaveni, announced that the government would be cracking down on illegal spaza shops in the country and would undertake immediate inspections of informal businesses to ensure compliance with the law.
The inspections are a joint operation by the departments of labour, health, small business development and home affairs’ immigration inspectorate.
In addition to these inspections, an audit of spaza shops in villages and townships will also be undertaken.
Mechanisms to register these businesses by traditional leaders and municipalities will be developed.
On the surface, this appears to be a progressive step aimed at formalising spaza shops and protecting communities from harmful practices such as food adulteration.
However, when you scratch beneath the surface, it is evident this is nothing more than the government scapegoating foreign nationals for its own failures.
Over the past few decades, locally-owned spaza shops have been edged out of townships and rural areas by spaza shops owned by foreign nationals due, in large part, to the failure of government to provide meaningful support to small local businesses and protect them from big retailers.
Across townships and rural areas, major retailers such as Shoprite, Pick n Pay and Boxer were allowed to operate without protecting local spaza shops.
This set the stage for the establishment of these spaza shops owned by foreign nationals who have the benefit of social networks that provide them with access to labour and capital and enable collective purchasing and market domination.
In addition to this, for many years, municipalities have not enforced bylaws to prevent the sale of goods that have been tampered with.
There has been no monitoring and evaluation of bylaws by the government, nor has there been a sustained effort to formalise the informal economy in townships and rural areas, partly because of the disregard with which the government deals with the poor in these areas.
Ntshaveni argues that only foreign nationals who invest at least R5m in the country should operate small businesses.
This is not only irrational given the very nature of spaza shops as informal convenience stores serving working-class communities, but also completely disregards the economic value foreign-owned spaza shops bring to township economies, including job creation and providing rental income to locals.
Government officials bemoaning illegal immigration is also nothing more than deflection.
Undocumented migrants are able to enter SA because our customs officials at points of entry are involved in corrupt operations that enable this.
Furthermore, the backlogs and dysfunction of the department of home affairs has also led to migrants who were initially in the country legally being rendered undocumented.
However, any way the migrant question is looked at, the government has played a direct role in enabling the problems that have arisen from it.
Instead of holding itself accountable, the government wants to scapegoat foreign nationals and present them as the problem.
The timing of this newfound “commitment” to dealing with immigration is not innocent.
As SA marches towards the 2024 general elections in which the governing party is teetering on the brink of losing power, populist politics rooted in anti-immigrant sentiments are finding expression.
This politicking with serious issues and with people’s lives is yet another reminder that our government will do anything but admit to its failures.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.