8 September 2019
Vusi Nzapheza
- Straight & Two Beers
Growing up in the 1980s, I always envied my peers with spaza shops at home. I often salivated at the thought of being behind the counter with all that polony to myself. Oh yes, polony was a delicacy and luxury back then. You could see children with tuck shops at home by their expanding midriff. Clearly, the endless gorging on ginger biscuits and Pine Nut had parked on their waists. While we hustled for hours on the soccer pitch for 20c when school was out, the privileged stood behind the counter and feasted on Nik Naks after school.
When 1994 brought freedom and democracy, spaza shops owned by the locals started to disappear one by one. The few that fought for survival were exposed by the bare shelves as they ran out of stock. By then, the democratic government had thrown our borders wide open and foreigners from the four corners of the planet came knocking. Officials turned a blind eye as the freedom fighters in power wel comed our br others who had provided them with shelter in exile during apartheid. The new South Africa, according to the Freedom Charter, belonged to all those who live in it. The foreigners set up their stalls and showed remarkable resilience to survive while we looked at the government to provide. Having suckled on toyi-toyi since birth, we burnt tyres and barricaded roads when the government takes too long to provide RDP houses or create jobs. Meanwhile, our brethren from the north were happy to do menial jobs such as gardening, mending shoes, waitressing and haircutting.
The enterprising ones from Somalia and Pakistan came to the townships and rented space to open spaza shops. There is hardly a township today that does not have a “My Friend” with a shop bristling with stock.
These merchants are known to sleep inside their shops, which close late at night. They are also generous to offer credit to gogo or Mbali until Sassa day. As many know, Sassa is the breadwinner responsible for seshebo in millions of households. More than a decade ago, impoverished South Africans decided to take their anger out on abo- My Friend. They pillaged and looted the shops of the same people who lived among them.
The next day, the same looters would wonder where to buy a loose draw after My Friend closed shop. Mbali would wonder where to buy a disposable nappy since Shoprite and PnP sell them by the bundle, unlike My Friend, who sells them by the single. Here we are again taking out our anger on foreign nationals this week looting their shops. Honest customer Mbali claims My Friend sells fake goods but surprisingly, she was front of the looters to steal the same fake items. The rest of Africa has had enough and there’s a fightback to isolate South Africa. Once again, we are the skunk of the world as horrific images of pillage are beamed across the world. The presidents of Rwanda, Malawi and the DRC have cancelled their trips to attend the World Economic Forum in Cape Town as a result. My crush and songbird Tiwa Savage of Nigeria has also cancelled her performance at the DStv Delicious Festival. The Zambian national soccer team dumped Bafana Bafana.
The saddest part is that those responsible for this immigration mess are cocooned by their bodyguards and high fences in Pretoria and Cape Town while the townships and city centres burn. Yes politician, I’m talking to you!
