Community Policing Forum (CPF) of Lwandle has welcomed an operation by police and Department of Home Affairs officials that resulted in seven foreign nationals being nabbed with no legal documents.
The random integrated operation was carried out on Tuesday 25 January, when stakeholders visited four Somali-owned shops to check for counterfeit goods.
Six of the foreigners nabbed were Somali nationals and the seventh was a Mozambican. They all appeared in the Strand Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 27 January and they each received R2 000 bail.
CPF chair Siya Macaula told City Vision two years ago residents of Lwandle had also complained of foreign shops selling “expired food”.
He said they then contacted the Somali organisation in trying to address this matter.
“These shop owners need to take serious these issues of counterfeit goods as they may be deadly to the same community they are selling to.
They ought to ensure the products they sell are up to date and have been verified accordingly.”
Macaula said the law needed to take its course on the undocumented foreign nationals.
He said as a result of these arrests the CPF will reach out to Somalis and police to alert them to ensure every foreign shop owner has proper documents.
Sgt Mthokozisi Gama, Lwandle police spokesperson, said the integrated operation in Lwandle by various stakeholders yielded good results.
“The operation led by acting Visible Policing (Vispol) head Capt Ntsikelelo Siqiki started at 10:00, and four Somali shops foreign were randomly visited to check if they were selling counterfeit items,” he related.
“Police found some of the shop owners and workers did not have legal paper documents permitting to be in South Africa.
“On searching these shops police found and confiscated goods such as polish. Police warned shop owners not to buy and sell counterfeit goods.”
Gama said operations of this nature would be held again to ensure the shops did not sell they aren’t supposed to.
The seven suspects arrested, who are between ages 15 and 36, face charges of contravening the Immigration Act – being in the country illegally and being in possession of counterfeit goods.
