Opinion | An uncomfortable truth

Without a doubt, the growing pressure on the government to close foreign-owned spaza shops and other immigrant-owned small businesses has become one of the defining outcomes of the anti-illegal immigration campaign led by the March and March movement.

Whether one agrees with the movement’s methods or not, it has succeeded in forcing the government to confront long-standing concerns about undocumented immigration, compliance with business regulations and the participation of foreign nationals in the township and rural economies.

However, amid the political noise surrounding illegal immigration, an uncomfortable truth risks being overlooked. Even if the government were to shut down every foreign-owned small business operating unlawfully, South Africa would still face a daunting challenge: Who will replace those businesses?

Are local people, who given the country’s economic realities should be running those businesses, adequately equipped to run them? That question goes to the heart of a policy failure that stretches back decades.

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South Africa has spent years debating who should own township businesses, but far less time preparing South Africans to become successful entrepreneurs. The country has spent billions on social grants, public employment programmes and various forms of economic relief.

While these interventions have undoubtedly cushioned millions against extreme poverty, they have not been matched by an equally determined effort to develop entrepreneurial skills among the unemployed.

The result is that many South Africans aspire to own businesses but have never received practical training in managing stock, negotiating with suppliers, maintaining cash flow, keeping financial records or understanding customer service.

These are not skills that develop automatically, they are learned through experience, mentorship and structured training.

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Many foreign shop owners arrived in the country with little formal education or capital, yet they succeeded because they often belonged to networks that shared business knowledge, pooled resources and supported new entrants until they established themselves.

Families and communities became informal business schools, teaching newcomers how to survive in an intensely competitive retail environment.

South Africa has no equivalent support system on a meaningful scale. While the government for years has been speaking about supporting small businesses, the fact is that countless aspiring entrepreneurs continue to complain about inaccessible funding, excessive bureaucracy and training programmes that focus more on issuing certificates than imparting practical skills.

While closing a shop is relatively straightforward, building another successful one is not that easy. Far from being simply four walls and shelves stocked with groceries, a spaza shop is a business that depends on careful pricing, efficient stock management, long operating hours, supplier relationships and an intimate understanding of customer needs.

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These are the factors that determine whether the business survives or collapses within months. Replacing an immigrant general worker with a South African employee may require limited orientation because the systems and management structures remain intact.

However, replacing an experienced business owner responsible for every aspect of the enterprise, from procurement to finance, security and customer retention, is entirely different.

Without proper preparation, many replacement businesses could struggle, creating empty shops where thriving enterprises once operated. This is not an argument against enforcing immigration laws.

Every sovereign state has both the right and the obligation to regulate who enters its borders, who lives within them and who conducts business. Having said that, the truth is that immigration enforcement alone cannot solve unemployment or poverty, poor service delivery and lack of access to capital.

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The government therefore faces a responsibility that extends beyond inspections and law enforcement operations. If the government intends to localise ownership of township businesses, it must simultaneously invest in preparing local entrepreneurs for that responsibility.

This is a long-term process. To produce successful entrepreneurs, the government should, among others, establish practical business incubation centres in townships, expand mentorship programmes involving experienced retailers, improve access to affordable finance and simplify regulatory requirements for small businesses.

It also means introducing entrepreneurship education much earlier in schools so that young people view business ownership as a realistic career path rather than a last resort after years of unsuccessful job hunting.

Also, it should be borne in mind that successful entrepreneurs possess knowledge that cannot always be taught in classrooms. In most cases, successful entrepreneurs, regardless of years of formal training, use the experience they inherited from their parents, relatives or employers to survive in business.

It is within this context that as a nation we should not miss the opportunity to broaden the immigration debate to cover issues of entrepreneurship, skills and economic empowerment.

Clive Ndou is the political editor of The Witness.