Looting spree explained

PUNCHLINE
Cause and effect of the looting rampage in Soweto explained
Nie Cele
Hogging headlines in the media about the recent looting spree of foreign nationals shops was a time bomb waiting to explode. There has been a veil of ignorance from the government ‘s side and some communities when these foreign nationals first started operating shops in the country. Firstly our government never engaged anyone, let alone the communities. These people were just imposed in the township without any explanation. Secondly our lazy communities were just happy to accommodate them in their shops and yards just because they were paid exorbitant rentals and a bag of groceries on monthly basis. Furthermore they were promised that at the end of the lease contract they were going to take over the refurbished spaza shops built in their premises.
On the other hand local spaza owners were never consulted and instead became the victims of a business competition that could never be matched. Remember foreign nationals had a bigger financial muscle believed to be bankrolled by their respective governments and masters. While the local owners operated on a shoestring budget that needed to also support their poverty stricken families. To compound the situation, foreign nationals would build more than five spaza shop in one close proximity selling well calculated slashed priced goods thus making it difficult for the local lads to survive. Infact they planned a takeover of all businesses operating eKasi. At the end of the day the locals business owner ended up closing shop due to a rigid competition unleashed by these people. Besides that foreign nationals became blue-eyed boys of the wholesalers shops because they would team up in groups and buy discounted bulk stock which they in turn sold to local communities at a lesser price and this made them win all customers hearts, and the poor local owners was seen as spitz (township lingo that describes a place selling goods at a high price) Local business people ended up in their worse doldrums hence most shops in the townships are either white elephants or foreign owned. To fix this conflict, foreign nationals should first be told to first register their businesses and pay tax. Secondly they should be advised that Soweto is the heartbeat of this country’s nation and has its own business people who are capable of running business just like them. And lastly, If you mess up with one sowetan you will end up being shown a backdoor in the blink of an eye finish and klaar.