In a recent viral video, South Africa’s informal business sector, and a new video captured a heated confrontation between a South African woman and a Ghanaian shop manager, set social media ablaze.
In the clip, a woman who identifies as part of the Patriotic Alliance, along with some community leaders, is seen
walking into a small shop and demanding answers.
They quickly zero in on a Ghanaian man they believe is either the owner or manager.
“South Africans are the only ones who are allowed to operate in the informal market,” the woman tells him firmly. “As a Ghanaian, you are breaking the law. We are taking full control.”
She goes on to explain that the informal market means small businesses, and according to her, foreign nationals are not permitted to run such operations in South Africa.
“I’ll assume that as a person who comes from Ghana, when you visit a country like South Africa, you familiarize yourself with the law,” she says.
“You know that as a foreign national, you are not allowed to own a small shop in South Africa. You are aware of that.
But you are comfortable with breaking our laws?”
The man listens quietly as she continues her warning.
“What we are ensuring is that we are taking back the informal market. Full control of the informal market in South Africa.
The first one we closed, we put a South African there to operate that store.
The same thing is going to happen with every small business that is in the hands of foreign nationals.”
She then turns her message into a broader call for African unity, but on her terms.
“We are saying it’s time for us as Africans to build this continent. You need to go back to Ghana and do the same, fix your country.
If there are foreigners in Ghana doing things they’re not allowed to do, the Ghanaian people must fix it.”
She expressed frustration that Ghanaians would leave behind their own rich resources, including gold, only to come to South Africa to do nails and hair.
“You’ve left meaningful resources back home. The revolution has started in Africa,” she declared.
When asked about Europeans or white people operating businesses, she insisted they would be dealt with too, but clarified that Europeans are mostly in South Africa as potential investors who employ local people, not running small street shops.
“We don’t have Europeans in our townships. They are here as potential investors.
If there is a European or white person operating in the informal market, we are also going to deal with them decisively.”
She pointed to examples like MTN, Standard Bank, and DSTV, which operate in Ghana and employ Ghanaians, as the kind of foreign investment Africa needs, not foreigners running small shops.
“Now, you guys, instead of giving us products from Ghana, you want to come and operate a small shop. It’s an unfair practice. No country allows that.”
The woman, who gave her name as Victoria, ended the conversation visibly disappointed but tried to keep things peaceful.
“We are not here to fight you, but we are here to warn you. Next time when we come, it has to be closure. South
Africans must run the shops.
You must go run shops in the informal market in your own country.”
She pleaded with Ghanaians and other Africans to return to their respective countries and hold their leaders accountable.
“We want order in the African continent. We want development.”