Dr Aaron Motsoaledi Calls for Spaza Shop Audit in Every City, South Africans Sceptical
- Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, the Home Affairs minister, announced new resolutions to monitor spaza shops in townships and rural areas
- He called on mayors to audit spaza shops and traditional leaders to register all foreigners in their regions
- Township and rural SMME organisation eKasi Entrepreneur's head of Spaza Shops, Mbongiseni Sangweni, spoke to Briefly News and shared some insights
- South Africans discussed the resolutions and called for more stringent action to be taken against them and illegal immigrants
Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News's current affairs journalist, offered coverage of current affairs like loadshedding, fuel prices and environmental affairs during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.
Source: Getty Images
The minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, called for every mayor in the country to audit spaza shops in their areas. He said that if the owner is an illegal resident of the country, they must be deported, and if he is legally in the country, the shop must be registered. His words were met with mixed feelings.
Motsoaledi announces spaza shop resolutions
In an interview he conducted with @Newzroom405, Motsoaledi said that the purpose of this audit would be to assess the shop's legal standing and the shop owner's citizenry. This came after there have been reports of children allegedly getting sick from eating foods and snacks supplied by foreign-owned shops.
PAY ATTENTION: stay informed and follow us on Google News!
Spaza shops must be registered: Motsoaledi
He insisted that municipalities start regulating spaza shops. When they register them, they must be registered for tax. He revealed that all traditional leaders must have a register of all people within their jurisdiction of people who live in their areas who are foreigners. He noted that foreign nationals go to rural areas and do not report their presence to the traditional leaders.
Motsoaledi further added that municipalities would follow bylaws. He slammed those who opened spaza shops without permits, registering to pay for tax and living and eating where they operate their businesses. Watch the video here:
eKasi Entrepreneur's Head of Spaza Shops shares insights with Briefly News
Speaking to Briefly News, eKasi Entrepreneur's head of Spaza Shops, Mbongiseni Sangweni, shared some insights about spaza shops in the townships.
"The biggest problem with how we deal with spaza shop-related issues is that we are reactive. We wait for something bad to happen before we react. We need to start to be proactive and engage all of the issues affecting the communities, including the issue of spaza shops," he said.
Netizens feel lukewarm about his announcements
South Africans called for illegally-run spaza shops to be closed down. Some also believe that the problem is more significant than spaza shops.
LadyB asked:
“How does an asylum seeker open a spaza shop?”
Jim Rachidi said:
“Close all of them. They are feeding our kids poison.”
Professional Whistler said:
“The problem is no longer illegal immigrants. The problem is immigration influx. We have limited resources that are overstretched.”
Melikhaya Pantsi pointed out:
“Running a business whilst you are illegally in SA must be a punishable offence by 10 years in prison.”
Ncicbane remarks:
“The municipal officials must develop a system where it would be easy to report the illegal immigrants to the immigration offices.”
Aaron Motsoaledi presents new Immigration Control Bill
In a related article, Briefly News reported that Aaron Motsoaledi called for recommendations on the Immigration Control Bill to be passed in parliament.
The bill seeks to implement stricter policies and monitoring processes in awarding citizenship and illegal immigration.
South Africans were hesitant to celebrate, and they slammed the government for not making good on similar promises made in the past.
PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU - click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!
Source: Briefly News
