Foreigners own up to three times more spaza shops in some townships compared with South Africans, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said. He was briefing the ad hoc committee that is investigating violence against foreign nationals on an interministerial committee report on migration.

The committee, which includes police, home affairs and small business ministers, is headed by Radebe. It was established following violence against foreign nationals earlier this year.

He said most spaza shops are now owned by foreigners.

In Ivory Park, Johannesburg, 70 spaza shops are operated by South Africans, while foreigners own 147. In Tembisa, South Africans own 41 spaza shops and foreigners 73.

In Imizamo Yethu in the Western Cape, seven of the 58 spaza shops are run by South Africans, while in Vrygrond, Cape Town, foreigners own 86 shops and South Africans 44.

The numbers are more level in Delft South and Eindhoven in Cape Town, with 90 shops run by foreigners and 89 by South Africans.

Radebe said this impacted negatively on the country’s poor communities.

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