‘Who gives anybody the right to harass and psychologically torment our colleagues?’
Operation Dudula was taken aback by the meticulous business records of a foreign-owned business that operates in the townships.
The battle waged against foreign traders through Operation Dudula has left many popular public trading market stalls void of non-South African traders, let alone enough local traders to fill their vacant space and cater for the bustling traffic of clients.
Meanwhile, in Vosloorus, Operation Dudula met with a rather different situation than the commonly paraded narrative of foreigners who exploit locals.
Here we find a Somali-owned food wholesaler who has a staff of 27 locals in their workforce, all of them registered with the relevant departments and each one of them fully compliant in terms of the labour laws.
Operation Dudula was taken aback by the meticulous business records of a foreign-owned business that operates in the townships. The Somali owners simply stood their ground and refused to be labelled anything but what they are – a business.
They argued against claims that they were in SA to exploit South Africans and steal their jobs. They explained that, just like many foreign traders who sometimes arrive in this country with virtually nothing to their name, they have also ended up providing informal employment to unemployed locals.
The Saturday morning raid was brought to an abrupt end right at the doorstep of the East African-owned supermarket, as the foreign shop owners placed their plea for support in the hands of the police.
As quoted in Groundup, SA Informal Traders Alliance president Rosheda Muller urged government to intervene.
Muller said: “There are many foreign workers. They are our colleagues. Who gives anybody the right to harass and psychologically torment our colleagues?”
According to Groundup, the alliance is known to represent about two million informal traders across South Africa. The alliance is also believed to be concerned by the harassment of immigrant traders, which flared up two weeks ago in Johannesburg. Muller told journalists the State and informal sector should work together to come to some resolution.
Muller said many more people are now relying on the informal sector to earn a living. According to the Statistics SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey, the official unemployment rate was 35% in the third quarter of 2021.
A shortage of trading spaces has also caused a rift between traders, said Muller. She suggested more markets be opened and regulations implemented.
Operation Dudula surfaced in June 2020 when posters under its banner started circulating on social media, calling for communities to boycott foreign traders.
The movement urged locals to come up with innovative skills and ideas to establish their business ventures.
The organisers of Operation Dudula have been accused of going against the basic ethics and spirit enshrined in a document released by the South African Government Association in 2021.
Kathorus MAIL has reliably learnt that in 2021, the South African Local Government Association (Salga) released the Public Space Trading Guidelines for Local Government. Sources revealed that according to the document, the purpose of these guidelines is to assist government to execute its mandate on public-space trading.
The source revealed included in the recommendations are provisions for the inclusion of the voices of South African and immigrant traders in decision-making.
This, according to the Salga guidelines, must be led by bottom-up approaches to respond to real needs in the informal sector.
My source believes what happened in Soweto at the Bara Complex and later at the Vosloorus Cash and Carry completely goes against the spirit of the Salga guidelines.
There are also calls for the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) to ensure the immediate implementation of the Salga guidelines document.
When quizzed about the attacks on foreign traders at the Bara Complex last month, a CoJ source is reported to have promised to revisit and revise the City’s Informal Trading Policy and take into consideration the Salga guidelines.
The guidelines contain myriads of developmental plans to expand trading spaces and accommodate the fast-growing informal trading sector.
“There are also new taxi ranks projects, such as Johannesburg International Transport Interchange and Florida Taxi Rank in Roodepoort, that are going to accommodate traders. CoJ is in the process of allocating trader stalls at the Jabulani Traders Market in Soweto,” said CoJ.
In concerns raised by immigrant traders, the City said the JMPD – responsible for implementing City by-laws – will ensure traders in designated areas will continue to trade without being harassed or attacked by anyone.
