Sharpeville resident Mavis Magagula rents out part of her property to a Somali foreign national who operates a spaza shop on the premises.
“I have a family to feed and when Abdul Ismail came knocking on my door and asked to start a spaza shop in my yard, I saw an opportunity of making money to feed my family.
“He has been operating his business here for three years and there have been no issues,” Magagula told Sunday World.
Foreign-owned spaza shops are under siege over claims that they sell expired foodstuff.
Many communities are outraged over the death of six children after they allegedly ate snacks bought from a spaza shop in Naledi, Soweto, two weeks ago.
The Department of Employment and Labour has since, sent inspectors to raid spaza shops for compliance purposes.
Many spaza shops like the one on Magagula’s property, are run by foreign nationals mostly from Somalia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia.
To many unemployed citizens like Magagula, the rental revenue from the spazas provides a much-needed source of income.
Recent research by Accenture Africa revealed that there are more than 150 000 spaza shops across the country, with an estimated market size of R178-billion.
A 2021 report titled South African Township Marketing Report by Roger Wilco found that spaza shops contribute 5.2% to the country’s GDP.
According to the Statistics SA’s quarterly labour force survey, the unemployment rate stood at 33,5% during the second quarter of this year.
Even though many communities are up in arms demanding that foreign-owned spaza shops be closed, landlords of these informal businesses are against such a move, saying it will deprive them of income as they get paid for renting out space to shop owners.
“I find this call from the community demanding that these shops shut down problematic, especially since landlords like me benefit from these people as they pay rent for using our space,” said Magagula.
Magagula’s tenant, Ismail, told Sunday World he was also concerned about the illicit goods sold by some of the spaza shop owners, but pointed out that there is no businessperson who would intentionally sell goods that are harmful to customers.
“It is a concerning issue that we find ourselves being painted with the same brush as others, while we make sure that we procure goods that are on a high par standard for our customers.
“Who would want to kill the people who bring business to their enterprises though?
“Clearly some of us are in this business to provide services to our clients, not to kill them. If there are those who run shops to kill children, then they don’t deserve to be in this business,” said Ismail.
Elsie Mofokeng, also the landlord of a foreign-owned spaza shop in Orange Farm, believes the government should do more to enforce compliance.
“We have a serious challenge in this country where some foreigners are accused of selling goods harmful to people,” said Mofokeng.
“I have a tenant in my yard. I always tell him that I don’t want problems and complaints about his goods
“If I had the knowledge, I would inspect the veracity of expiry dates on the products he sells.
“I urge the labour department to conduct constant -visits to these spaza shops and to have proper inspectors who are not going to be bribed so that they can turn a blind eye when they find expired goods in these spaza shops.
“We are benefiting as landlords as rent is being paid, but if there are people selling expired goods, then it becomes a problem for all of us,” said Mofokeng.
Razan Anas, a Pakistani national, believes that some of his countrymen were using illegal ways to procure goods through factories that manufacture illicit goods and that this brings their businesses into disrepute and creates animosity in communities.
On Monday, the Department of Health dismissed claims that the government is neglecting the issue of children dying from suspected food poisoning.
The department stated that the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure is currently treating the recent spate of deaths as a national
security threat.
“These increasing incidents in black communities have led to an unfortunate and unsubstantiated perception that authorities are turning a blind eye to this crisis and seem not to care about what’s happening to citizens,” said the department in a statement.
The department also mentioned that those affected have concluded that the sudden death of children was caused by food poisoning emanating from food sold by foreign-owned spaza shops.
In the past weeks, communities of Naledi, Soweto, and Sharpeville in the Vaal went on a rampage forcing foreign-owned spaza shops to be closed and demanded that the owners of these businesses leave their areas.
