Foreigners who own spaza shops in KwaThema fired bullets at a group of residents protesting in the area.

And that was enough to turn what had been billed as a peaceful protest into a full-blown fight with hundreds of residents joining in.

The residents demanded that the foreigners should close their spaza shops because of numerous incidents of expired food being sold by spaza shop owners.

Spaza shop owners decided to put up a fight and started shooting at the residents.

Residents retaliated by torching a car belonging to the shop owners and continued to vandalise their shops.

A mob of thousands of residents could be seen moving from one foreign-owned tuck shop to the other demanding that the owners pack their stock and vacate the area.

Looting began with residents salvaging what they could including rice and washing powders from the trashed products.

Children also joined the march. They were seen collecting trashed sweets, biscuits, and snacks.

While residents chanted and moved from one street to the other, police sirens echoed the streets firing rubber bullets at the protestors.

“They shot at us showing that they wanted to fight. We fought back by removing their goods from the containers,” said community leader, Tshepo Mowelase.
He said this was their community.

“They found us here and through their low prices they killed the locally owned tuck shops,” he said.
“Through this protest, we want to rebuild those shops where the local youth will be employed.”
Resident Moipone Masilela said: “We cannot turn a blind eye when children are dying around us after consuming snacks they bought from these tuck shops.”
Kwa-Thema police spokesperson, Nkululeko Magudulela confirmed that there was a fight between the residents and foreign shop owners during the protest.

There have been similar incidents in various parts of Gauteng. Residents have taken to the streets to demand more hygienic standards and regular inspection of food in spaza shops by the authorities.