Officials conduct inspections during Operation Siyabopha, targeting illegal spaza shops in Richmond.
Image: Facebook/ Richmond Municipality
Municipal authorities in uMgungundlovu are cracking down on a growing problem where South African citizens are allegedly applying for business licences, only to lease the operational spaza shops and small businesses to undocumented foreign nationals. This practice, highlighted by local officials during a recent operation, has frustrated efforts to regulate informal trade, enforce health and hygiene standards, and ensure all businesses followed both business and immigration laws.
Operation Siyabopha was part of ongoing multi-agency efforts to enforce municipal by-laws and ensure compliance with trading regulations.
During the operation in the Richmond Local Municipality on Friday, uMgungundlovu District Municipality mayor Mzi Zuma said that as part of their operational plan, they checked if shops complied with government regulations, licences were in place, health and hygiene standards were met inside the store, and whether food was stored in accordance with the law or expired.
They also checked if the foreign nationals operating the stores were in the country legally.
Authorities check business licenses to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations.
Image: Facebook/ Richmond Municipality
“We are concerned that one of the problems we see is that when people who own these stores apply for a business licence from the municipality, it is granted to a South African person, who then leases it to a foreign national who is in the country without papers,” Zuma said.
“Then there is a complaint from our community that there are many foreign nationals operating businesses. But sometimes we are let down by our own people. They are the ones who apply for permits, asking to run businesses, and we approve them. Then they allow foreign nationals to operate.”
“We need the cooperation of the community here in Richmond and the community of the entire district so that we can solve this problem,” Zuma said.
“We do not want businesses run by undocumented foreign nationals.”
Businesses were shut down, and arrests were made during Operation Siyabopha in the Richmond Municipality.
Image: Facebook/ Richmond Municipality
Zuma said there was no way of tracing someone who was undocumented, especially if they commit a crime, because nothing indicated they were in the country legally.
Richmond Municipality mayor Melikhaya Ngcongo warned the community that it was illegal to rent out property to undocumented foreign nationals.
“We do not only arrest undocumented immigrants; we arrest the immigrant, and if they were employed by someone who employs immigrants, we start with the landlord before we arrest their employees,” Ngcongo said.
“We ask the community to stop this thing of hiding foreigners. Stop this thing of renting to people who do not have papers. These people do not come with land and containers; they find it here and rent in our yards.”
Expired food items found during the recent inspections highlight the need for stricter health standards.
Image: Facebook/ Richmond Municipality
Meanwhile, during the operation, some foreigners were arrested for being in the country illegally.
Officials discovered expired food items in some of the shops. They also found chemicals stored directly above energy drinks, creating a risk that the chemicals could leak onto the beverages.
A total of 17 people were arrested, but five were released because they had the correct documentation.