Maile: Govt will act against foreign nationals intimidating South Africans

JOHANNESBURG - Gauteng Finance MEC Lebogang Maile has warned that government will take action against foreign nationals who are found to be threatening South Africans.

This, as some local spaza shop owners allege that they have been intimidated by foreign nationals amid the nationwide registration of businesses.

Maile briefed the media in Johannesburg on the progress of the registration of spaza shops and food-handling facilities in the province.

He said that the number of applications received from non-South Africans had increased to over 2,800.

On Wednesday, government announced the extension of the window period for the registration of spaza shops to 28 February 2025.

Maile said government would deploy resources for the protection of South Africans should the need arise.

"If there are South Africans who have been intimidated, can they please bring the matter to our attention? As a government, we will protect our citizens against criminality and we have got that duty and we will do it, deploy more resources to protect our citizens, we will do that."