Raid on BCM spaza shops nets 20 owners

Undocumented foreigners arrested for trading without permits, selling counterfeit goods and expired food

About 20 undocumented foreigners were arrested in raids by local authorities in two East London townships on Thursday on suspicion of trading without permits and selling counterfeit goods and expired foodstuff.

The operation was conducted at Nompumelelo in Beacon Bay and Mzamomhle in Gonubie by Buffalo City Metro officials, police, immigration officers from the home affairs department and provincial community safety department officials.

At all the spaza shops, about 20 in total, scheduled medicines such as painkillers, skin products, libido boosters and pesticides were seized.

The spaza shops that were raided were closed by the officials pending the finalisation of prohibition notices that were issued. They have been given 14 days to comply with the law.

In many of them, the owners were also found to be sleeping in them as they had no separate bedrooms.

At Nompumelelo, a shop owner and his assistant were allegedly selling expired baby formula and were immediately arrested.

At another shop in Nompumelelo, police had to force the door open as the owner had locked and bolted it after hearing about the blitz.

The owner was arrested for selling counterfeit items and scheduled medication.

Another owner tried to resist arrest, arguing he was not a tsotsi [thug]. But he failed to show documentation allowing him to be in the country.

In Mzamohle, one shop owner was found selling counterfeit canned fish products and was arrested.

Nompumelelo residents welcomed the raid, saying though they appreciated having the shops on their doorsteps, they were concerned about the lack of hygiene in some of them.

“They are taking us for a ride by selling us expired food,” resident Phumza Magwaxaza said.

“At a shop near my homestead, the owner is sleeping with his girlfriend inside it with no separate bedroom.

“It is always dirty at his shop.”

Another resident, Nosipho Swartbooi, said: “We are hoping the raid will not be a one-off thing because there is a lot of noncompliance in these shops.

“The meat products they are selling are not of good quality.

“Some of them shout at us when we tell them their products have expired.”

BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said the operation had been conducted as a warning for shop owners to stop selling goods that might compromise the health of consumers.

“Expired foodstuffs are not fit for human consumption, yet we have discovered they are being sold at these spaza shops.

“This clampdown is continuous.

“We will visit other townships as well to ensure compliance with applicable rules and standards.”

He said ward councillors were expected to monitor the spaza shops that had been closed.

Luyanda Madikizela, who is an acting general manager in the BCM municipal health services, said: “Over the years, we have discovered that there are were many illegal products sold at spaza shops.

“During our raid we have discovered counterfeit goods, scheduled and unscheduled medication, expired food items and pesticides.

“No one is allowed to sell pesticides without registering with the department of agriculture.”

East London police spokesperson Captain Hazel Mqala said: “It was a joint operation.

“We had immigration officers from home affairs to process undocumented foreigners.”

Mqala said some police officers had undergone special training to identify counterfeit goods.

“We have managed to effect arrests of undocumented foreigners and they were taken to the Beacon Bay police station for processing and will be detained at the East London Port Control facility.

“Some foreigners had been found selling scheduled medication and they are not allowed to do that because they are not pharmacies.”

Before the raid, BCM mayor Princess Faku presided over the launch of seven high-performance vehicles to assist officials in combating crime in the city.

The launch was held in Quigney.

The city said the vehicles would operate in all regions of the city along the N2, R72 and N6.