ANC's bid to ban non South Africans from running Spazas, 'shocking and xenophobic'

South Africa - An African National Congress (ANC) policy document proposing new measures to manage asylum seekers has sparked an outcry from rights groups and migrant communities who slammed it as "worrying and dangerous".

At the centre of the storm is a proposal to ban non South Africans, particularly asylum seekers, from running Spaza shops or businesses unless they adhere to legislated precepts.

Migrants' organisations, asylum seekers and human rights activists are outraged.

A Nigerian spaza shop owner in Yeoville, identified as Felix, said this proposal was "shocking and xenophobic".

"If it becomes adopted as policy of the government it will lead to more social problems here than there are already," he said. "I see this as ploy by the ANC to kick us out of their country. This is another way of telling foreigners that we don't want you here. This kind of proposal is what will drive people to xenophobia."

"Where must we go?" asked one asylum seeker. "Does South Africa want to drive us to the sea now? I am shocked that an ANC government can even think of such a proposal. You don't get any support from the government when you arrive here as an asylum seeker, you don't get employment, so running a business is the only way to live."

Hassan Hassan, a Tanzanian spaza shop owner, said 85 percent of foreigners with businesses in Yeoville were asylum seekers who were hiring unemployed locals.

"This is a survival issue for us. The ANC should look behind where it comes from before making these… reckless proposals. This will not be a solution to the immigration problems that the country faces but will instead increase them."

Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, head of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme at Lawyers for Human Rights, said the proposal was "dangerous".

"The state doesn't provide any assistance to asylum seekers and limiting them is dangerous and can put them in a very precarious situation," she said. "For the ANC to be looking to limit asylum seekers' rights to work and to economic freedom is a serious situation."

"There are a few worrying things in this ANC policy document," said Loren Landau, director at the African Centre for Migration and Society at Wits University. "They seem to go against legal precedents within South African courts which have upheld the rights of asylum seekers. If you allowed someone into the country, why deny them an opportunity to live â€" that is unconstitutional in principle. The ANC is responding to pressure from business owners â€" who want foreign shop owners out of their communities â€" through this proposal."

Migrant Community Board director Serge Lwanba Lwa Yeba said seeking to ban asylum seekers from running businesses in terms of UN conventions was not wrong, but the reality in SA was different.

"If you look at international law, asylum seekers are not permitted to trade on the streets or run businesses, but in SA, unlike other countries, once you are inside the country you are on your own. In other countries the state provides asylum seekers with food and everything. If now SA wants to stop them running businesses they must also comply fully with the UN resolutions and agreement." - Thabiso Thakali