Business owners, community members and the March and March Movement met with Inkosi Ntamonde Mthetho Machi and traditional leaders in KwaMachi on September 7.

The media was not allowed to attend the meeting; however, a businessman and a member of the movement aired their discontent about illegal foreigners in the area.

Business owner Mmeli Mchunu from Gangala said spaza shops should go back to local people; hence the meeting with the tribal authority.

“We are tired of foreigners renting our shops, and this is the case for many shops in every corner of the area.”

Mchunu said it was not the first meeting with Machi, as he keeps telling them to go back to fix certain things.

He said Machi had asked them to come with a list of business owners, which they have submitted.

“What I think we need to do now is to form an association as local business owners, and then maybe he will take us seriously.”

Mchunu added that, as business owners and residents, they don’t want any illegal foreigners in the area.

He added that Machi should inform local shop owners who rent to foreigners that they (foreigners) are no longer welcome in the area.

Sibulelo Nyawo, who is also a member of March and March, said support is being offered to local business owners.

“They are complaining that foreigners must be helped to move from KwaMachi and go back to their countries.”

Nyawo said that as a member of the movement, it concerns him that Machi seems to be against them.

“A date was set for illegal foreigners to go back to their countries, which was June 30. We were expecting our chief to instruct the foreigners to go from his land.”

He added that this hasn’t happened; the movement will reconvene on what to do next.

According to Machi, he was unaware the media would be present, and he assumed it was just a conversation with those present.

“Not everyone was present, which I had asked in our previous meeting that they should all be here. When I found out about the media, some were unaware; it felt like we were not transparent with each other. In our previous meetings and the meeting on September 7, they came to me to ask the foreigners to leave KwaMachi.”

Furthermore, he said he told them that the foreigners are on their properties; they did not come to him before they moved in, and now they are asking him to help them.

“What am I supposed to do now, because they are renting to them on their properties without my knowledge? I asked them to do a petition as business owners. Some of them pretend like they do not want the foreigners, but they were here in the meeting.”

Machi added that he also told them that once they signed the petition, they must come with the foreigners to a meeting to have their say.

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