Two undocumented foreign shopkeepers were arrested, and about 12 unregistered spaza shops were closed down following the Buffalo City Metro (BCM) security cluster’s latest raid operations targeting spaza shop businesses operating in the Metro.
The Buffalo City Metro’s multi-stakeholder joint operations continued with its latest raids targeting unregistered spaza shops in Mdantsane, Gonubie, and Mzamomhle township from Wednesday until Friday last week.
The BCM’s security cluster, led by police and including BCM health services, law enforcement, the South African Revenue Services (SARS), and the Home Affairs Immigration unit, continuously conducts raid operations every week, targeting unregistered spaza shops and ensuring that all food-selling outlets comply with health and safety regulations, including municipal bylaws.
The two foreign nationals were arrested for being in the country illegally after they failed to provide legal identification documents. They were handed over to the Home Affairs Immigration unit for verification and processing in accordance with the Immigration Act and possible deportation.
Buffalo City Metro spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said that for the past two years, the Metro has been engaging with foreign spaza shop owners and food-selling outlets, discussing compliance issues; however, many continued to flout municipal bylaws and compliance standards. “We have conducted workshops and empowerment programs to get spaza shops to be compliant, and this included extended registration deadlines by the national government.
“We are at a stage now where we are not negotiating, but implementing the laws of the country, and they are very clear on what measures should be taken against transgressors,” said Ngwenya.
Since the start of this year, BCM General Manager for Environmental Health Services, Luyanda Madikizela, has continuously called for spaza shops to be fully registered.
The Metro has about 1,455 spaza shops on its database, and the number is believed to be higher than 2,000, considering many remain unregistered. BCM has since closed down over 600 spaza shops that failed to comply with regulations and municipal bylaws.
