South Africa: Anti-Immigrant Sentiment Grows During Spaza Shop Controversy

Spaza shops have been a key topic in South Africa’s online xenophobic dialogue for years because many of these convenience stores are owned by Africans from other parts of the continent. The call for the closure of these spaza shops continues to gain traction online, with anonymous accounts and self-appointed “news” channels sharing anti-immigrant narratives, reports the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change  (CABC).

There have been several cases of children admitted to hospital and dying after reported food poisoning. These devastating events were allegedly caused by food bought from spaza shops.

This prompted the CABC to publish Xenophobia, Spaza Shops and Allegations of Food Poisoning examining the online conversation about spaza shops over three distinct periods of this year to assess the interrelationship between anti-immigrant messaging and the topic of spaza shops. The report took into account the periods between January and September 2024 – before the Sowetan children were admitted to hospital and some of them died; between October and November 2024 – a period of intense media reporting surrounding the events, during which President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the public; and between November 16 and 22, 2024, when Ramaphosa ordered measures to be implemented.

According to CABC, researchers first examined the period between January 1 and September 30, during which local spaza store owners were allegedly attacked by a “Somali syndicate” to gain control of the township economy. This followed Thulani Khumalo’s report that he was under attack to shut down his spaza shop in Vosloorus. According to accounts that reshared this information, Khumalo was allegedly “killed”. The only other posts where information about his death was found outside of X (formerly Twitter), was on TikTok and Instagram. However, there was no mention of this in other news outlets and the man (Khumalo) in the circulating posts appears to be alive, based on a review of Facebook.

Between 30 September and 15 November 2024 (second period), the most prominent topic was the death of six children who had died as a result of organophosphate, as later announced by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. According to the report, accounts on X that are frequently associated with anti-immigrant sentiment seem to have exploited the information to support claims about poisonous or fake food being sold at spaza shops throughout the year.

In addition, the report examined the politicization of concerns about spaza shops owned by so-called foreigners, specifically pointing to a new campaign from the ActionSA party with the hashtag #Spaza4Locals. ActionSA’s Athol Trollip posted about the party calling for a state of emergency to be declared by the ANC to intensify raids on counterfeit, contaminated, and expired goods factories, spaza shops, and distribution networks.

In a national broadcast on Friday, November 15, 2024, Ramaphosa informed the public that the National Institute for Communicable Diseases established that the deaths of six children in Naledi, Soweto, were directly related to a highly hazardous organophosphate chemical, Terbufos, which is registered in South Africa for agricultural use. Three out of 84 spaza shops in Naledi tested positive for Terbufos. Further investigation revealed that many shops were storing perishable and non-perishable food items next to pesticides and other harmful chemicals, posing a health risk.

Then president announced that the spaza shops implicated in the deaths of the children would be closed immediately. It was also announced that all spaza shops and other food-handling establishments would have 21 days to register their businesses within their municipalities after the day of the address.

However, online anger from November 16 to 22, 2024, was directed towards South Africans and officials accused of registering spaza shops on behalf of immigrants, reports CABC. The most widely shared post was published on November 21, in which a man is seen intimidating a South African woman as he accuses her of assisting immigrants.

The Rise of Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

Online xenophobic conversations centered on spaza shops predominantly run by people from Somalia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.

According to CABC, accounts using anti-immigrant messaging in spaza shop conversations relied on several strategies to gain popularity. This includes framing content as “breaking news” and formulating opposing narratives before official confirmation, which creates a false sense of urgency.  Some accounts quickly gained control of the narrative after the news of the deaths of six children in Soweto broke, by sharing unsubstantiated information about the children’s deaths before investigations were completed.

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Researchers said that calls for the spaza shop industry to be South African-owned are unlikely to end “unless unemployment and inequality, two systemic issues that South Africans are truly frustrated with, are addressed”, according to the CABC report. Until then “scapegoating foreigners and manipulating cognitive vulnerabilities” of South Africans is easily done through online platforms like X and TikTok due to their speed and proliferation.

In addition, government institutions must recognize that any issue involving spaza shops offers troublemakers an opportunity to substantiate narratives they have been driving online for years.  “After all these years dealing with accusations against foreigners, it has become clear that there is a method to agitate the public and drive them to loot the same shops that are being accused of poisoning people,” the report revealed.

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