BOPHELONG – Concerns have gripped the community of Bophelong as tensions rise over the closure of foreign-owned supermarkets in the area.
In response to this escalating situation, scores of residents, local shop owners, and foreign nationals gathered at the Bophelong hall to discuss the ongoing issues.
The meeting is convened by local law enforcement, with the presence of both police and Emfuleni Local Municipality bylaw officers, as they aim to address the growing unrest.
The motivations behind these shop closures remain multifaceted, encompassing issues related to trade, legality, and safety concerns.
One of the key catalysts for this meeting is the reported link between several recent child deaths in parts of Gauteng and the consumption of allegedly expired or substandard food products from these shops.
While investigations are still ongoing, the rumors of health hazards have intensified the scrutiny of these foreign-owned establishments.
A high police presence marked the event at the hall to bring calm to the ongoing engagement between police and the people.
Addressing the meeting, Sedibeng District Police Deputy Commissioner, Brigadier Mbangwa Nkhwashu said they not going to watch crime happen under their nose.
“I was informed about the challenges this community is experiencing in the area. We [police] learned that are conveners of this meeting complaining of foreign nationals within the district operating spaza shops and they demand them to be evacuated,” he said.
“We are here to ensure that whatever the community request or demand, it was then be done in a peaceful approach. We don’t want activities that will lead to crime as our mandate is clear, we don’t want any criminal activities taking place during the event of removing foreigners,” he said.
Community leader Thabiso Maphike was given the opportunity to relate the demands and way forward of the meeting’s agenda.
“We’ve discussed our problems over the weekend and everything on TV about how children are dying because of these shops doesn’t need any action other than removing them. We don’t have shops owned by us. This hall is filled because we are not working, we are unemployed and there is no township economy.”
“We’ve asked the MEC of Community Safety to come to our area and check compliance issues. When we entered their shops, we were told they were there to study. There is no asylum seeker who runs a shop in the foreign land,” he said.
Mamello Morobe, Former Parliamentarian, a concerned resident, and a shop owner said “I was off the view that today is about feedback from the weekend’s report, but now I feel like we are starting from the bottom.”
“There are concerns that there are children that died in our community due to the illegal stuff sold in these Pakistan shops. Two lives are enough. We are not going to fold our arms while our children are fed poison. I got no agenda against foreign nationals, but the moment there is an undocumented immigrant who does something to harm us, we not going to be comfortable,” he said.
