Durban -
Informal traders have called on the government to implement stricter measures to stop foreigners from trading illegally in South Africa.
They expressed their concerns at a two-day workshop on the informal economy, organised by the Department of Small Business Development in Durban.
The workshop, which ended on Tuesday, was attended by more than 50 interested parties, including informal traders’ associations.
Ziyanda Ndamse from Johannesburg said the Department of Home Affairs should monitor the movement and activities of foreigners in the country.
“The government must know where they are until their permits are issued. That will curb the trend of illegal immigrants ‘renting’ trading licences from locals,” she said.
The consensus was that foreigners in the country legally should be allowed to trade. Local traders were united in denouncing xenophobic attacks on immigrants.
They called for border controls to prevent illicit goods from entering the country.
“Some bring in counterfeit products and sell them on the black market. They do nothing to contribute to our economy and they avoid paying tax. The government needs to do more to protect local traders,” said Abbas Mkhize.
Rose Nkosi, the head of the South African Spaza and Tuckshop Association (Sapta), said chasing foreigners from townships would not empower local informal traders.
“The foreigners obviously have methods we have not thought of, which make them successful at running spaza shops. So we need to work with them and learn their tricks of the trade,” she said.
Nkosi said the immigrants took informal trading seriously and organised themselves in such a way that they were able to buy in bulk and rent warehouses, resulting in cheaper prices for consumers.
“Hating them is not going to give us the skills we need, but we could trade information. They have the financial backing our people need. We have ideas on how to grow the informal economy.”
Sapta has begun engaging with foreigners trading in Soweto after the recent xenophobic attacks. This was confirmed by Amir Sheik from the Township Business Development, an organisation representing immigrants trading in townships.
“We are slowly getting to a point where everyone’s needs are met, but the first couple of sittings with Sapta and other traders were filled with name- calling and accusations,” said Sheik, who is from Somalia.
Samuel Malikoto from Limpopo said such initiatives should be implemented nationally because migration was inevitable.
“Every township needs a database of who is running what kind of business so that we know each other, instead of tuck shops popping up everywhere,” he said.
The delegates also wanted uniformity in municipal by-laws for informal trading.
“Some municipalities in towns like Stellenbosch still have apartheid by-laws which they use to oppress informal traders. They relocate them to places where there is no business and overcharge them for permits,” said Rosheda Muller from the South African Informal Traders Alliance.
The Mercury