The ANC Greater Tshwane Regional Executive Committee has condemned the metro’s recent by-law enforcement operations, accusing it of targeting black township businesses and calling for an immediate halt to similar operations.

In a statement issued on July 31, ANC Greater Tshwane regional secretary George Matjila described the campaign as a “declaration of war” by Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya’s administration.

Matjila said the municipality’s campaign was not law enforcement but “a vicious, anti-black business crusade designed to systematically dismantle the township economy”.

He accused the metro of failing to introduce programmes to help emerging black-owned businesses comply with municipal regulations, instead using municipal resources to demolish informal structures and destroy livelihoods.

According to Matjila, the administration was forcing families back into poverty while neglecting basic service delivery.

He said residents in Region 7 had endured a third consecutive week without running water while the municipality continued its enforcement campaign.

“It is a profound disgrace that the mayor’s office can find the administrative will and the budget to crush black livelihoods overnight, yet displays absolute paralysis, zero empathy, and total inaction when it comes to delivering a basic human right to Region 7. This is a government that values the oppression of black traders over the dignity of thirsty communities,” Matjila said.

He described the enforcement operations as ‘cold, calculated tactics of a deeply entrenched neoliberal nature’ and called on township communities, informal traders and progressive organisations to oppose what he termed ‘anti-poor policies’.

Matjila also called for the immediate suspension of the operations and demanded that Moya account to ANC leadership and councillors in the affected wards.

“The ANC firmly believes that developmental support, structural enablement, and respectful community engagement are the only acceptable paths forward.

“We will not allow the mayor’s office to antagonise, criminalise, and impoverish our own constituencies. The survival strategies of our township and rural communities must be defended against an aggressive, out-of-touch municipality that chooses destruction over delivery,” Matjila said.

Responding to the criticism, the mayoral spokesperson Samkelo Mgobozi said the city’s responsibility was to govern and enforce municipal by-laws and applicable legislation in a manner that protects residents, supports compliant businesses, and promotes a safe and orderly trading environment.

Mgobozi said compliance operations, like the recent Ekangala operation formed part of the city’s ongoing implementation of the Informal Trading and Township Economy By-law to address non-compliance, improve public safety, protect consumers and support the formalisation of the township economy.

According to him, officials identified businesses operating without valid permits, arrested three undocumented foreign nationals and issued nine Section 56 notices with a combined value of R20 500.

He said inspectors also uncovered an illegal mortuary operating despite a prohibition order previously issued by the city, and a foreign-owned spaza shop with 33 illegal rental rooms believed to have housed undocumented foreign nationals. Both premises were closed.

Mgobozi said officials confiscated unregistered medicines, beauty products hidden inside a ceiling and hazardous substances, including rat poison and brake fluid, that were being stored alongside food intended for human consumption.

He added that inspectors also found foreign-owned spaza shops selling products from brands not officially distributed in South Africa, exposing consumers to unregulated goods.

“These are not minor administrative infringements. They are serious violations that threaten public health, public safety and the rule of law. The city has both a legal duty and a moral obligation to act where such conditions are found,” Mgobozi said.

He rejected claims that the operation targeted any specific group.

“The city’s enforcement operations are not directed at any race, nationality or category of trader. They are directed at unlawful conduct. Equally, the Informal Trading and Township Economy By-law is not intended to prevent informal trading. It exists to regulate informal trading, enhance public safety, facilitate business formalisation and create an orderly trading environment where compliant businesses can thrive,” he said.

He said the metro would continue conducting targeted by-law enforcement operations across Pretoria to restore law and order, protect consumers and ensure businesses operate within the law.

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