Thembalihle residents shut down Somali-owned spaza shop in PMB
Protesters demanded the closure of foreign-owned spaza shops, stating that local residents should be allowed to operate businesses.
Angry residents of Thembelihle near Eastwood in Pietermaritzburg shut down at least one Somali-owned spaza shop on Tuesday morning as part of a protest aimed at forcing undocumented foreign nationals out of the community.
By 1pm, the demonstration had largely dispersed, although small groups of residents remained gathered throughout the area.
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Protesters demanded the closure of foreign-owned spaza shops, stating that locals should be allowed to operate businesses within their own community.
Resident Bongiwe Zondi accused some foreign-owned shops of selling expired food products and said local entrepreneurs were capable of running the businesses themselves.
We can run spaza shops on our own, so these people must go and open businesses in their own countries.
“We don’t want them here anymore. What concerns us most is that many of them are undocumented, and the government does not seem bothered by that,” said Zondi.
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The owner of the affected shop, Zedi Abedi, declined to comment and referred questions to the protesting residents.
Ward councillor Nkosivelile Dlamini said he had not been informed about the protest beforehand and was therefore unable to engage with residents while it was taking place.
“It would have been difficult for me to address people on something I was not informed about,” said Dlamini.
“They decided to protest early in the morning, but the situation has since calmed down.”
No injuries or arrests were reported.