Over time, the perceived foreign shop problem, which began as a series of sporadic and localised headaches, escalated into a national political dilemma. Senior state officials and politicians viewed foreign-owned township grocery stores as economically threatening, a danger to public health, and as contributing to growing crime and illegality. But these concerns, despite being earnestly and repeatedly articulated by those in power, did not seem genuinely held by those who espoused them, even though the desired solution – curtailing shops – certainly was.

One of the earliest, and most common, allegations against foreign-owned spaza shops was that their activities were economically harmful. State officials and members of civil society as early as 2006 in Masiphumelele were of the belief that foreign-owned spaza shops posed a threat to the economic survival of surrounding communities. More recently, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration asserted that the proliferation of foreign traders negatively impacted on unemployed and low-skilled South Africans. But these claims were not convincing. And they disproportionately took into account the interests of competing South African retailers, to the exclusion of all other parties and economic stakeholders. For instance, the views of shop suppliers, deliverers, wholesalers, producers, manufacturers, consumers, landlords and shop employees were not sought or considered by the Inter- Ministerial Committee on Migration. The sole fixation of such claims was pinned on one stakeholder: the South African shopkeeper. Findings of economic harm were thus made in the absence of any real appraisals of local economies, indicating that allegations were weighted by other concerns and considerations.

When it came to claims of fostering rampant crime and illegality, political leaders depicted the role of foreign traders in two ways. Firstly, they portrayed foreigners as undermining laws through their own deviant and unlawful business practices. In September 2019 President Cyril Ramaphosa put it clearly: ‘We want foreign nationals here to obey the laws of South Africa. They must obey the laws. They must live in accordance with our protocols, laws and regulations.’1 Secondly, political leaders branded foreigners as weakening legality through their very existence. By opening shops in townships, foreigners encouraged local youth to rob and murder; they provoked residents to loot and destroy their shops.

But, as with allegations of economic harm, grievances about the illegality and crime were vague and contradictory.