THE bustling village of Lulekani near Phalaborwa was given a mild rude awakening when a team of police, home affairs and government officials staged a mini raid on spaza shops and taverns in the windswept settlement.
The raid was part of efforts by the Limpopo Economic Development, Environment Tourism (LEDET) to “cleaning up the sector” which is plagued by challenges including ” selling of expired goods, rubbing-off and re-stamping alternative expiry dates on consumable goods, selling of foreign or unapproved goods,
sleeping in supermarkets, counterfeit consumables, unregistered businesses and undocumented business owners operating within our economic sector.”
In a parliamentary debate early last year Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi raised the thorny issue of bylaws for the licensing of spaza shops – saying these should be enforced without fear or favour, regardless of whether they’re owned by SA citizens or foreigners.
During the debate Motsoaledi pointed an accusing finger at municipalities, saying they were not doing anything about the issues of unlicensed spaza shops and their failure to adhere to regulations.
A 2021 South African Township Marketing Report by the company RogerWilco noted that spaza shops contribute an estimated 5.2% to the country’s GDP and employ about 2.6 million people.
LEDET MEC Rodgers Monama said ahead of the raid he is “adamant that economic reconstruction efforts requires immediate, coordinated and tough stunts by the Provincial Government if we are to assist our citizens in reclaiming township and rural business spaces and creating the much required job opportunities.”
He said he “has with great dissatisfaction observed, raided, fined and apprehended many illegally operating business owners within the Liquor and Gambling industry” and that during the past two months he has shifted attention to spaza shops.
In his budget vote speech last month Monama noted that “the province unfortunately is experiencing widespread illegal gambling machines, usually found at foreign-owned local spaza shops in rural
areas across the province.”
He said “for now government does not know who is the supplier of these machines to spaza shops. Illegal gambling activities negatively affect the economy and revenue generation capacity of the province. Licensed gambling operator’s businesses also suffer as they can’t generate enough revenue due to illegal gambling activities.”
“South Africa is prone to opportunistic chances of illicit financial flows, money laundering and terrorist financing. To assist the country to curb these challenges, the Limpopo Gambling Board partnered with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) to tighten the belt within the gambling industry because this sector is not immune from these challenges,” Monama said, alluding to SA’s grey listing in February by the Financial Action Task Force.
The country was grey listed for among others, having weaker systems on anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing measures. Monama said the partnership with the Financial Intelligence Centre will focus on gambling beneficial ownership, and implementation of risk-based methodology when monitoring the licensees on matters of anti-money laundering and combating of terrorist financing.
Monama said last November the department confiscated 432 illegal gambling machines and destroyed 409. He said the remaining confiscated machines will be destroyed in the beginning of the new financial year.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s raid which was meant to commence at 9am from Lulekani Police Station, but only got underway after noon, by which time it appears word had already reached some of the operators about the impending blitz. Along one dusty, potholed road that appeared to have once been tarred, some stores were suspiciously closed shut with not a soul in sight. This despite being a time of day when spazas and taverns in particular are doing roaring trade.
The effort yielded one slots machine which was confiscated owing to the operator’s failure to produce a licence, a few rotten foodstuffs including canned beetroot and a loaf bread that was rotten it could have been in that store since the last century.
A few people were arrested by Home Affairs immigration on suspicion of being in the country illegally and without proper documents. It wasn’t really a successful blitz but it must surely have shaken up some operators in this sleepy part of the province.
If only the authorities could make this part of their daily duties perhaps then not even those who shut up shop on the day of the raid could escape. -news@mukurukuru.co.za
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