Plea for more compassionate immigration checks in restaurants

This country needs a more compassionate and efficient system for handling immigration checks within the restaurant industry.

I recently witnessed the distressing consequences of rifle-bearing police actions targeting waiters in restaurants.

During this targeted harassment, hundreds of thousands of rands were lost in revenue when police pre-emptively sent home staff who did not have original documents on hand, made traumatised customers feel so uncomfortable they discarded meals and left while police inspected documents and disrupted lunch trade.

In some cases, entire restaurants were closed when managers were detained because staff could not produce original documentation.

There were other restaurants visited without armed police who allowed for staff to present their documentation.

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As different heads of home affairs were at these raids, different approaches were experienced.

We thank those who conducted their investigations in a polite and nonthreatening manner.

There are children and families in restaurants and police are arriving in huge groups with rifles on display to check for correct paperwork.

All of this in front of diners, some of whom thought there was a robbery underway and hastily left.

We agree that any foreigner in any country should abide by the laws of that country, but this unnecessary aggressive show of force has left a deep scar on our staff and our customers.

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The raids have exacerbated the already challenging circumstances faced by all South African restaurants, that are battling food inflation, load shedding and customers with dwindling income.

I extend an open hand to government officials, because I am willing to collaborate on developing a user-friendly online portal for submitting paperwork; a more efficient system where the industry can submit essential paperwork – similar to the highly efficient South African Revenue Service (Sars) systems.

We are going into high season. This is when restaurants countrywide hope to make up for lost income during the slow winter season.

It would be heart-breaking if the next few months were fraught with even more challenges than what currently exists.

Let’s implement something that will achieve objectives without wasting funds on manpower and creating disruption:

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1. Set up a portal where every restaurant must load their foreign nationals’ paperwork. Restaurant owners or managers could verify that it is correct.

The owner is already placed in a risky situation when there are checks and is often also arrested. So, this would not be a new risk.

2. We agree that spot checks would need to be conducted and that officials must arrive unannounced.

We ask that these spot checks be conducted in a subtle manner, where one or two officials ask to speak to the owner or manager.

Also, could these checks be conducted just before or after busy trading times?

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If there is a functioning system, we can all help to prevent this inefficient waste of time, conserve our resources, and work together in a just and legal way.

This would greatly assist the many people who are reluctant to carry their original passports and/or visas due to frequent theft and prevent them being unfairly traumatised by spending the weekend in over-crowded prisons.

We apologise to all those families who were affected by the raids and invite them to please join us once again.

Collaboration and transparency will also assist in establishing fair criteria for selecting establishments for immigration checks and enable a new approach to addressing these concerns.

Let’s prioritise tolerance, respect, kindness, and professionalism over a heavy-handed and disruptive approach.

The Restaurant Collective and its members remain committed to fostering a collaborative environment that ensures compliance with SA law while maintaining the well-being and dignity of everyone in the industry.

Harding is chair of The Restaurant Collective, a coalition of sit-down restaurants committed to promoting a thriving and responsible restaurant industry.