Foreign owned small shops to be targeted, attacked in South Africa’s Soweto this weekend

A political party with seven seats in the South African Parliament and a notorious anti-migrant organisation have issued threats to foreign owners of spazas – small township shops – in the area of Johannesburg.

Following a shooting incident, Operation Dudula‘s spokesperson Zandile Dabula said: “We intend on closing down more shops on Saturday, not just in White City and Mofolo, but other parts of Soweto. We cannot allow people coming from other countries to kill us in our own backyards,” she said. 

They have joined forces with the Patriotic Alliance, which is now in parliament.

Soweto has been a hotspot for tension between locals and spaza shops run by foreign nationals.

  • In 2021, widespread looting took place across South Africa after the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma, which led to a nationwide shutdown and looting in Soweto. 
  • In 2019, dozens of foreign-owned spaza shops were targeted in a widespread looting spree by residents in various townships in Soweto. Police arrested numerous people for public violence and possession of stolen goods.
  • In August 2018, residents in Tshepisong, west of Johannesburg, engaged in a looting spree of foreign-owned shops after claiming they were selling expired food items. Four people were killed during the week-long violence.

Source: News24

Date: 16/08/2024 , Writer: Martin Plaut

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