ActionSA President Herman Mashaba Calls for Foreign-Owned Spaza Shops To Be Closed, SA Debates

• ActionSA President and Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, has called for the closure of foreign-owned spaza shops to prevent further deaths
• This was after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi revealed that 23 people died from food poisoning-related incidents since October 2024
• Some South Africans agreed, while others fiercely debated his statements and called him out

Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues like health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests and heritage in South Africa during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

DURBAN, KZN — ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has called for foreign-owned spaza shops to be closed.

Mashaba calls for spaza shop closures

Mashaba reportedly spoke during his visit to spaza shops in Siyanda, North of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. He also called for the army to be deployed to raid spaza shops owned by illegal foreign nationals nationwide. Mashaba claimed that some of the illegal foreigners are armed with weapons smuggled into the country.

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Mashaba also called for the constitution to be amended to prevent foreign nationals from owning spaza shops. His call came after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced that 23 people have died since October 2024 after allegedly eating food bought from spaza shops.

SA debates

Netizens on Facebook were on different sides of the spectrum.

Some agreed

Puppies said:

"I fully support Mashaba."

Seke Ralepelle said:

"Mashaba is 100% correct."

Nolwandle Nolly Zuma said:

"Cyril won't be happy to hear this. I still remember a video of him praising a foreigner for running a spaza shop."

Others disagreed

Seun Godfrey said:

"At least those spaza shop owners don't take our jobs. You can't see them at warehouses or factories asking for jobs."

Seruli Yunusu said:

"Stop confusing people that foreign spaza shops are the ones causing death in children."

Diansangu Lukengo said:

"It's shameful to see a person of his calibre think like a child."

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Gayton McKenzie calls for spaza shop closures

In a related article, Briefly News reported that the Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie called for foreign-owned spaza shops to be closed.

He said that undocumented foreign nationals owning spaza shops should also be arrested and deported.

Source: Briefly News