ActionSA wants foreign-owned businesses in townships to operate legally

JOHANNESBURG - ActionSA says it is not opposed to foreign businesses in the townships as long as they operate legally.

The party staged a march in Soweto on Wednesday calling for spaza shops to be reserved for South Africans.

The Immigration Act says foreign nationals should invest a minimum of R5 million to start a business in South Africa.

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By this logic, ActionSA says the entire local economy and not just spaza shops should be reserved for locals.

"As a foreign national if you want to own a spaza shop or any other business in the country, firstly show us how you came into the country, how you brought money into our country, did the R5 million investment you are expected to bring come through the Reserve Bank or did it come through mattresses and so on. 

"If the money came through legally you are most welcome to be an investor in our country but we cannot allow people who come into our country through fake marriages, people who come to our country illegally. People who bring money through channels we don’t know," said ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba.

A study in 2017 by the Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation, found at least 72% of all spaza shops in the country were foreign-owned.