- A business owner in South Africa has doubled down on his decision not to hire locals in a heated row
- The owner reportedly parted ways with undocumented foreign workers before making the unpopular decision
- Members of a local movement demanded the business reopen and hire South Africans amid Xenophia crisis
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A business owner in South Africa has refused to hire local workers, which has led to a tense standoff with a member of the community.
The confrontation comes after the owner allegedly parted ways with undocumented foreign employees at his company.
South Africans have increasingly demanded that companies hire local citizens over foreign workers, with some groups going so far as to storm businesses to make their case.
In one video an activist group confronted a company and made clear that jobs had to be given out, whether or not applicants had a CV
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The group’s leader said they were not asking but demanding employment for South African nationals in place of foreign workers.
Business owner clashes with South African
A business owner in Spartan has now reportedly decided not to hire South African workers after parting ways with undocumented foreign employees.
The owner has also declined requests from members of the March and March Movement to reopen the business and recruit residents.
According to the owner, although the former employees have already left the country, he has chosen to keep the company closed rather than employ a new workforce.
This decision reportedly led to a heated confrontation between the business owner and a member of the local community.
In a video capturing the incident, the unnamed business owner is seen getting out of his car as he is met by a South African man.
The man asked why the business would not hire locals, and the owner told him he could leave now, as he would not be employing South Africans.
When the owner doubled down on his decision, the man told him not to shout, saying he was not a child.
The X video of the confrontation between the business owner and the South African man is shown below.
YEN.com.gh cannot independently verify the exact date or location of the video.
Netizens react to South Africa hiring row
Reaction to the video was largely sympathetic to the business owner, with many defending his right to close the company rather than take on new staff.
YEN.com.gh compiled some of the comments from the post.
“Let him starve, there are businesses that will be happy to continue operating.”
“Open your own business, you can’t force the man to open his business because you want to beg for work. You guys can’t think honestly.”
“It’s not easy to run a business. Imagine hiring those people, they will abuse you as a business left, right and centre. Hire the unknown South African, not those that came with the marchers. Approach is very important, this type of extortion is on another level.”
“His business. If he no longer wishes to continue and wants to retire, then so be it. Many business owners are already frustrated paying high taxes and are barely surviving. His reasons are his own.”
11/88kv Power Supply and Installation added:
“He is definitely within his rights if he wants to close the business, he has the right to do so. If you want South Africans to be hired, open your own business.”
South Africans beg shop owner to reopen
YEN.com.gh earlier reported that a similar situation played out in Cape Town, where a migrant shop owner closed his business out of fear it would be looted during anti-immigrant protests.
Local South Africans were seen in a video begging the shop owner to reopen so they could buy groceries, with the owner explaining that he feared his shop could be targeted the same way as other migrant-owned businesses.
Ben-oni Blay (Entertainment Editor)Ben-Oni Quao Blay is an Entertainment Editor at YEN.com.gh with a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Ghana Institute of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Cape Coast. He has over five years of experience in SEO content creation, digital publishing, and audience analytics. Before joining YEN.com.gh, he served as Lead Content Creator and Writer at the International Filmmakers Association (Germany), where he covered film and entertainment. He holds Google certifications in Digital Marketing and SEO. Contact him at benoni.blay@yen.com.gh.
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