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THE CHINESE INVASION IN SOUTH AFRICA

J. M. (Johan) Ras, Criminal Justice

E-mail: jras@pan.uzulu.ac.za

ABSTRACT

This article looks at Chinese shops in South Africa. There are so many Chinese shops in this country that we without doubt can speak of the Chinese invasion in South Africa. A qualitative research study has been done through the implementation of clandestine methods. Through the implementation of law enforcement techniques, mostly using personal observation, conversations and informal interviews, information has secretly been collected over the past few years in order to better understand the modus operandi of the Chinese shop owners in South Africa. The Chinese has a unique way in how they operate. Not only are they not complying with even the basic labour laws of this country, but their blatant refusal to comply with the tax laws are robbing the country of billions of rand annually.

INTRODUCTION

While busy with the gathering of information for different academic projects all over South Africa, especially during and after 2001, I have discovered that there are so many Chinese shops in South Africa that it deserves some attention. I have visited these shops on several occasions and it was especially at the end of 2001 that I deliberately started to support them by buying their products. I literally have spent thousands of rand in Chi-nese shops through the years, mostly buying clothes and shoes.

PERSONAL REMARKS

I have noticed that black South Africans are especially buying in these shops and I have simply decided to blend in and did the same. My wife has received so many Chinese stuff that she later told me that’s enough. I just like to visit these shops and to see what they have. Whether it is t-shirts, trousers, dresses, shoes, radios, knives, calculators, jackets, or whatever clothes you want, they have enough to keep you interested for a very long time.

I have made it a habit to visit these shops with my wife so that I could observe the Chi-nese and their employees in these shops. This has given me enough time to learn a lot about them through observation and deliberate conversation-making. During 1999 I

was inter alia lecturing Chinese religion (Ras 1999) to Religion Studies’ students in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Zululand. Although I did have this background, I was quite surprise to learn what is happening at grass roots level in the Chinese shops. I have made my research, entitled, “The Chinese invasion in South Africa”, specifically dealing with the Chinese shops, available to a few interested members during July 2008. This paper is a shortened version of that work.

RESEARCH APPROACH

My research approach was qualitative in nature (Ras 2006:80-82) and after I have observed them, started to speak to some of the employees in their shops. I then deliberately implement, what we call in law enforcement, clandestine measures (Ras 2008b). I deliberately went, or send people to these shops to go and observe, to make contacts and friends with the black female employees in these shops in order to gather more information. The modus operandi that I have followed is typical used in police crime intelligence and in the organized crime units where they make use of intelligence-led policing (Khalidheen 2008:136-138; Ras 2008b).

From a practical point of view it is not possible to mention the names of those people who have assisted me in gathering the necessary information. For safety reasons as well as to protect their identities for further future research and investigation purposes, it is sufficient to say that the sources that are mentioned at the end of this paper is not a comprehensive and exhaustive one (Ras 2006:114-115). Open sources are quoted where applicable and whenever the researcher thought it would not cause any problems or any inconvenience to those mentioned in the list attached to the end of this research paper.

ABSENCE OF AFRICAN CLOTHING STORES

You very seldom find any Zulu, Xhosa, Venda, Sotho or any African men or women having shops in the same style and manner than the Chinese. The Chinese shops are also so cheap that no other well-known brand or shop like Pep Stores or Ackermans can simply compete with them. They specialize in closing down competitors. During the beginning of my Chinese investigations I have strongly believed that we need to get rid of these people because they simply damage our economy and take away all the jobs of our local people and their entrepreneurial skills when it comes to clothes and shoes.

However, I have changed my mind in 2004 totally about them and now believe it is impossible to get rid of them. Let me explain: during 2003, while doing another doc-torate, focusing on body guarding, I have traveled literally all over South Africa into the most remote corners of the country. I was totally shocked to see all the Chinese shops in all the different provinces, the number of these shops, where they are situated and how they operate. When I have realized the impact what these people and shops have on the local people where they are, I have realized it is impossible and humanly-speaking, simple foolish, to try to get rid of them.

The Chinese is so much ingrained into the South African economy and spread amongst the black communities that one cannot get somewhere without them. It is especially the poorest of the poor, the majority of the local black South Africans that benefit the most in this country through the very low prices that they pay for Chinese products. It was especially in the Eastern Cape, in places from Kokstad to East London, that I saw how deeply entrenched the Chinese are in the local economies of the different areas. The same can be said of all our nine provinces.

THE IMPACT OF THE CHINESE SHOPS ON SOUTH AFRICA

Although the Chinese definitely do not pose any militant or revolutionary threat at present to our South African government, they will without doubt damage the whole economy of our country if they will have to withdraw themselves overnight (Ras 2008c:

3). For me it practically means that a lot of cheap clothes and shoes will be gone and poor people will not be able to buy cheap products anymore. After the Chinese stores, Pep Stores is most of the time the cheapest clothing store in South Africa, but far more expensive than the Chinese ones. If the Chinese should pack up and leave, many South Africans, if not, most, would not be able to buy clothes.

The Chinese is so deeply entrenched into our local economies that many of the poorest of the poor will not be able to have decent clothes for themselves if the Chinese are chased away like many other foreigners. I believe that it is one of the most-well kept secrets of our country, and that is, that the Chinese have already invaded the country so far that it is humanly impossible to get rid of them again. The only thing we can do now is to accom- modate and to recognize them, and to try to get as much benefit from them as possible.

The main reason why I believe it is impossible to get rid of Chinese businesses in South Africa is simple. They have, many years ago, on a big scale, illegally invaded the coun-try and have through their smuggled networks (Chinese Mafia or Triads) have made themselves an integral part of the South African economy. They also have evaded, just like today, the South African Revenue Services en masse and still do not pay taxes. I mean, let us be honest, did you ever receive a till slip after buying anything from the Chinese in their shops? Never! Never! Never! Clever Chinese! Clever! Clever!

Very clever! No till slip means nothing went through the till! (Ras 2008c:3-4).

With the present declaration that the Chinese is now part of the BEE in South Africa,

we can only hope and will see if the Department of Labour and the South African Revenue services will come up with any meaningful mechanisms to ensure that the Chinese will also comply with all the tax and labour regulations that were expected

from them through all the years, but what they did not keep.

PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH

As my research remains ongoing and is far from complete, my present remarks are

open to further change and to regional fluctuations. I hope that my words will at least stimulate the readers and will serve as a wake-up call to realize the reality that South Africans are facing when confronted by their unknown neighbors next door.

Although the Chinese are now an integral part of our multi-cultural national identity, there are still too much that is unknown about them. Especially when it comes to the local population. All what most black South Africans know about them is that the local Chinese shop is cheap and the man there knows karate (Ras 2008c:4).

SOCRATIC METHOD

The philosopher Socrates was famous for his question-and-answer-method that he had used in order to teach his followers. I have used this principle in this paper when discussing the Chinese and their modus operandi in their shops. I have asked a question, and then have answered the question. Although Socrates has used his answers to again formulate question out of these, I deliberately did not push this principle too far.

WHY DO THE CHINESE COME TO SOUTH AFRICA?

The Chinese are coming to South Africa because there are too many of them in China and simply too little economic opportunities for them in their home country. There is an estimated 1 321 851 888 million people in China (

cations//the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html). It is part of the Chinese government’s intention to get a strong foothold in Africa and South Africa in order to dump all their goods and to generate billions of rands for their own economy. It is also strategically part of their plans to get closer to the rich minerals and economic opportunities of Africa, including South Africa.

WHERE DO YOU FIND CHINESE SHOPS?

There is not a town or basically a township in South Africa where you do not find a Chinese shop. These shops are mostly strategically placed the closest to the bus and taxi ranks in every town where there is a very high number of local traffic. They target the black people of South Africa and erect their shops where black South Africans are gathering and move most of the time (Ras 2008a).

WHERE DO THE LOCAL CHINESE COME FROM?

Although there are many South African Chinese in the country since the beginning of the previous century, most of the present Chinese are coming from Shanghai in mainland China where they speak Mandarin. Others speak Cantonese. Some are from Hong Kong, but mostly they come from mainland China. Every young child or adult comes here because here they can be their “own bosses” and make more money than in their own country (Ras 2008a).

WHAT DO THEY SELL?

Ninety percent or more they are selling cheap clothes and shoes. In addition to clothes and shoes they also sell bags, handbags, electronics like radios, torches, batteries, knives, small things like watches, combs, and so forth. They also cell blankets but not too much. They are mostly stocking only Chinese stock (Mhlongo 2008).

WHY ARE THE PRICES SO CHEAP?

All the clothes and shoes are basically coming from China where they can manufacture

it very cheap because they do not have the same labour laws like what we have in South Africa. In South Africa the labour movements like COSATU demands a so-called “living wage” and force the South African government (that need the votes of the workers to stay in power) to make and enforce legislation that minimum wages must

be paid to all workers (Ras 2008a).

In contract to the South African situation, that is seen as “oppressive” by especially the majority of South African employers with small businesses without government contracts and black political friends high up that can pull some BEE-strings, in China they make use of very cheap labour (even child labour) so they can make all products very cheap. No minimum wages are set in China and people simply work because they are happy to get a job. There are so many people who want to work that they do not complain when they get the opportunity (Ras 2008c:8).

South Africa is an excellent market to sell (“drop”) all these products through the Chinese shops to the local people who are poor and need cheap prices in order to survive. The cheap prices of the Chinese is also one of the main reasons why the black people in South Africa keep on buying from them and do not chase them out of the country like the other foreigners.

HOW DO THE CHINESE OPEN A SHOP IN SOUTH AFRICA?

A ring leader looks for an empty shop, rent it, and then bring in young Chinese people to run the store. They pick the store very carefully. They specifically look where there are a lot of black people, especially close to the bus and taxi ranks. The Chinese come from from an overpopulated country, so they like to be in a place where there are lots and lots of people (Ras 2008c:8). From a strategic and business point of view, this is the right business move.

WHERE DO THE LOCAL CHINESE GET THEIR MERCHANDISE?

Once they have their shops in South Africa they all stock it with cheap Chinese goods (mostly clothes and shoes) that they buy at Jeppestown (Chinese town) in Johannesburg. The stock is off-loading mostly during evenings, but also during the day. Every night all over South Africa you will see the typical Isuzu bakkies with high (box-like) closed canopies running, belonging to the Chinese (Ras 2008a; 2008c:9).

Many of these bakkies with canopies are coming from different provinces. For example, those that drop goods in Empangeni (KZN) will come from Durban or the Free State. A lot of the stuff comes by boat in containers to Durban harbour. From there it goes to Johannesburg and other warehouses before it is collected to go to the ordinary stores all over the country. Even in remote places like Bergville, close to the Drakensberg mountain range in KwaZulu-Natal, stock are coming from either Johannesburg or Durban (Mhlongo 2008).

In Mpumalanga they told me it all come from Jeppestown, Johannesburg. The fact is

the cheapest warehouses are in “Chinatown”, that is basically Mayfair and Jeppestown in Johannesburg (Qiang 2007). Even the Somalis and Ethiopians are buying their clothes from the Chinese warehouses to sell in their own shops. The Somalis and Ethiopians reduce their prices even lower than that of the Chinese in order to hijack the markets, but they are never successful because the local African people do not support them, only the Chinese.

MUSIC IN THE CHINESE SHOPS?

In Zululand, as well as in the rest of the country, the Chinese people are playing the music that the local black South African people like. They play a lot of Maskande and Ximba music that are traditional black music (Gumede 2007). This is done deliberately so that the locals can buy. There is of course no intention or desire from the local Chinese from China to learn the local language of the local people, like Xhosa or Zulu.

Now and then they play their own Chinese music and very often sing together with these Chinese songs, perhaps, just to keep their own sanity. The Chinese women, they are ninety percent very young, like to sing with the Chinese music while you are inside the shop. The men never sing openly in public (Ras 2008c:9-10).

HOW CHINESE SHOPS ARE LINKED?

They organize themselves into small “town cells” that operate together. All Chinese shops are linked. Normally by two way radios. At times they also have sellers outside on the streets with these radios. Whenever they need something in a store they will call over the radio in Chinese. This is especially seen in towns in the eastern province like Grahamstown, but also in Mpumalanga, for example, Piet Retief, in Gauteng and in KwaZulu-Natal (Ras 2008a; Mhlongo 2008).

WHO RUNS THE STORES?

When I first started to pay attention to them I saw that it is most of the time young Chinese men who are running the stores. Later on I discovered there are also a few older Chinese men, not many, but there are a few ones. Nowadays a lot of Chinese females are in charge. This is quite surprising but one gets a lot of females alone in these stores.

The person behind the till is the person who runs the store. In other non-Chinese shops the manager will not run the till, but in the Chinese shops the manager is the man in charge and he or she runs the till and deals with the money. Now and then you will see

a Chinese woman runs the till and then immediately gives it to a Chinese man, like in Pretoria (Ras 2008c:10).

They never let any local black person works any till in their shops. That’s is forbidden ground. The reason is simple: they do not trust the black people or any other person except themselves (Ras 2008a). They use only one or two black females, not males, inside their stores to translate for them and to speak to the visiting customers, but they never allow them to operate the till or to deal with the money. They do not trust them. The Chinese alone works with the money and the till (Ras 2008c:10).

LOVE RELATIONSHIPS IN THE CHINESE SHOPS

I have noticed, surprisingly, that many, and when I say many, I mean many, Chinese men and Chinese women who are working inside these shops seems to be lovers. Although they are all very very young, it seems they come here as couples, because their body language tell me that they are in love and like one another very much.

It seems to me that they are very closely knitted together after hours and in the same compartments where they stay. These young Chinese people, who are coming from mainland China or Hong Kong seems to glue together because they come from far and know they have only one another to rely on. They come to a foreign country like South Africa without knowing if they are going to die here. As a result, they stick together and love one another very much.

MARRIED CHINESE COUPLES AND BABIES IN THE SHOPS

Many of these young couples are also married and have a baby in a pram in the shop. On a few rare occasions the Chinese have spoken to me and told me they were married. In one place, Winterton, close to the Drakensberg mountains, the one Chinese man could speak a little bit of English and he and his wife told me they are married. They were quite exceptional in the sense that they spoke with me and my wife – something that normally do not happen. However, I did buy a lot of things from them and have used my buying power as a means to get closer to them (Ras 2008a).

When they have a baby in the shop, the baby is normally in a dark blue pram with four wheels. The pram is high above the ground. I do not know where they get these prams but these prams are most of the times used. One never sees them carrying the baby in the arms, breast fed them in public (like black African women), or give them a bottle. In fact, these babies are sleeping the whole day. I think it is because these women are working the whole day and in the night they will play with them when they are awake.

The prams are normally parked deep inside the shops and are covered with baby blankets almost completely so that one cannot see inside. The Chinese women will sit in behind or close to the till, and constantly watch the people and the pram. You cannot steal the baby because there are no other exits except the one at the entrance where the mother is sitting and watching you.

WORKING HOURS

The Chinese open their stores early in the mornings and close it late in the afternoons. Depending on the safety and security situation, they are normally opened after seven in the morning and at least open up to five in the afternoons. They are also opened every Saturday and even on Sundays the whole day, depending on where they are situated.

In busy main streets like in Piet Retief they are open seven days a week (Ras 2008a; Mhlongo 2008)..

ATTRACKING CUSTOMERS

The Chinese never advertise their goods in newspapers. They also do not hand out flyers or pamphlets. They put out some goods outside immediately in front of their stores, mostly clothes like dresses and t-shirts, and also bags, especially bags, like sports or camouflage bags. At times also bicycles, but they will chained it because they believe Africans will come and steal it, like in Empangeni (Gumede 2007).

COMPETITION

In some places like Carolina, there are different shops selling the same kind of stuff next to one another. Sometimes you see there are even two Chinese shops next to one another, but that does not automatically means these people are connected. Most of the time it is like that, but in some cases you get some of the Chinese who are from mainland China in the one store, while the other one next door is from Hong Kong. These people have a kind of cold war going on at times, but ordinary people will not easily pick it up.

WHERE DO THE CHINESE STAY?

I have been told on several occasions that when they start a shop they normally stay inside the shop until they have funds to rent a place. At the end of the shop, on the inside, there is very often a curtain or a place that is separated or divided from the front part of the store. This is where they can put their private things and store their goods. However, in most of the cases they do not stay inside.

They normally rent a flat in a quiet and secure place where all of them stay together. All the Chinese in a town, say there are four different Chinese shops, will normally stay close together in a complex. They group together and keep a very low profile in any place where they are. It is quite interesting to watch them walk in the morning to their shops. The men and the women, mostly all wearing jeans, will walk together with the males and the women working with the tills in front (Ras 2008a).

THEIR SECURITY AND SAFETY MEASURES

The Chinese is very suspicious and trust no one. They will open their stores will another person will watch their backs. They do not have legal firearms because they are not legal citizens of South Africa. They also do not have illegal ones in the shop as far as I know of. I have never seen them carry any firearm covertly or any form of weapon. However, there are some shops where the person in charge of the shop is behind the till and there are a lot of different kinds of dangerous knives within hand reach (Ras 2008a).

There is no martial arts equipment of any kind that I ever saw in any shop, things like a baton, tonfa, chaka sticks or any throwing stars. There are always, and when I say al-ways, I mean always, umbrellas very close to the front and the till in one or other basket. I do not know if that is put there on purpose to use in a case of emergency as a self-defen- ce weapon.

One Chinese man, a young one, is sitting behind his till with an air rifle to protect him in one of the Chinese shops in the rail in Empangeni, a place where there are a lot of black people moving and where there is normally a high crime rate. This is, however, an exception (Ras 2008a; Mhlongo 2008). I recently saw how four Chinese men were transporting their money to the bank. Two elderly men walk with money in ordinary plastic (like Checkers or Shoprite) bags while two younger ones walk a few meters ahead of them (Ras 2008a). They move in box formation (Ras 2002:8-9; 2006:214).

CHINESE DRIVERS

There are many Chinese shops and Chinese shop owners but not many Chinese drivers. One never sees a Chinese driver hanging around in a shop. The drivers are treated with respect because they are mobile and travel a lot. The drivers all drive bakkies with high closed canopies like Isuzu bakkies. These canopies are not the ordinary canopies for transporting passengers like most black people have, but canopies for transporting goods. The canopy covers over the front roof-part of the vehicle.

At times I have seen that the drivers transport the other Chinese shop members in the inside of these canopies while the doors at the back is open. The reason why the doors remain open is simple. These canopies are made to be closed and locked at all times and is not passenger-friendly. In Empangeni there are bakkies with Free State number plates who come and deliver goods. That indicates that the Chinese drivers come from far, probably Harrismith. At times they are also coming from Gauteng or Durban or Mpumalanga (Ras 2008a).

Normally there are two or three Chinese people delivering the stuff. A Chinese driver, a Chinese girl and perhaps another male. In the Eastern Cape they drive fast (120-140 km/h) especially between Kokstad, to East London, during evenings. I have seen them passed me on several occasions. The same happens in KwaZulu-Natal. It seems they (the drivers) also work night shift and transport the goods during the evenings when it is

quiet. For me, “quiet” means there is are basically no police and traffic officials on the road to stop and inspect them or ask them about any papers – this is most of the time late at night.

SMOKING AND DRINKING

It is interesting to note that many of the bakkie drivers smoke while the other Chinese people working inside the shop, don’t. Now and then there is an old Chinese man who will smoke outside the shop, never inside. When they smoke they smoke cigarettes, never anything else. I have also never saw any Chinese person using any alcohol or

drink anything like beer out of a bottle or can in public or in private.

KARATE

The Chinese very often have different kinds of knives in their shops, always at the counter, under the glass where only they can reach it and where the till is. They are also very interested in anything that has to do with karate, and when a person will anywhere in town or public exercise or give demonstrations, they will very often stop, look, smile, and then continue on their way. Karate (like Tai Chi Chu’an) is part of their traditional way of life (Ras 2008a; Peters 1999:224-227).

OBSERVATION AND MODUS OPERANDI

The Chinese sit very often on a step ladder immediately inside and next to the door of their shop from where they can watch the floor to see who wants to by and who wants to steal. Or they are sitting next or behind the till. They very seldom go and stand at the back of the shops because that is too far away from the till where they keep the money and where customers pay (Ras 2008a).

TILL SLIPS

You never get any till slip because they never issue one, even if you ask for one. All money that goes through the till does not go for any government taxes. It goes to their pockets or to their bosses in charge. I have only once in my life received a till slip in a Chinese shop, and that was in the heart of Tswane (Pretoria) when I bought a jacket for

almost R 200.00. The Chinese man was friendly and put my stuff in a plastic bag. He did not charge me for the plastic bag (Ras 2008a).

BLACK FEMALE SHOP ASSISTANTS

There are always one or at times two, but never three or more, shop assistants in the shop. These assistants are black African females whose main task is to talk with the customers in their own mother tongue. These ladies are always underpaid and always will complain about their low salary or wage. They work long hours and normally get anything from

R 300.00 to R 500.00 per month for all their work (Ras 2008a).

Many of these females have matric and a cell phone. I normally make friends with them to get more detailed information about the Chinese. However, this also has its limita-tions because many are not in a position to give detail because they do not know the Chinese people intimately. These women speak English and the local language and will do whatever the Chinese order them to do. Most of them do not want to work inside the Chinese shop because they say they get far too little money. It seems that some of these females are also asked by the Chinese not to talk to outsiders.

THE CHINESE AND BLACK MEN

The Chinese basically never ever use black men to work for them because they do not trust them and they find it difficult to control them. The size and attitudes are also problematic. Black women are more easy to handle, will be less problematic to work with “foreigners.” Most of the Chinese goods are also focused on females like hand bags, make up sets, dresses, t-shirt, shoes, blankets, curtains for the house, etc. They cater more for female needs than for men.

The most difficult part of the work is perhaps the off-loading of the merchandise from the bakkie to the shop floor. Where one normally expects a black man to do that, this is absent in the Chinese shops. They do it themselves and also use the females. – never the black males. They reason is trust. They do not trust the black African males (Ras 2008c: 16-17).

THE CHINESE AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT

In general the Chinese people are very hard working people because their shops remain

open, but they definitely do not respect the government laws in terms of tax compliance and the basic conditions of service when it comes to the labour laws. An honest answer would be that the Chinese deliberately play “stupid” when it comes to English in South Africa. There is no doubt about that.

They will pretend they do not understand English when you speak to them. This makes it impossible for Department of Labour officials to speak to them. Once they are cornered, after several visits, then they will tell you they will comply without any intention from their side to comply. When that decision of them is cornered, they then will get an attorney to retard the prosecution process. They then will move shops with other Chinese or with other pre-arranged friends to avoid any prosecution and closing down of the shop according to a Magistrate’s order, as requested by the Department of Labour official.

This is normally their modus operandi in northern-KwaZulu-Natal. It is a hopeless case to try to let them comply. They are deliberately playing hide and seek. Not at any stage did I ever or anyone else, receive any till slip for anything that we bought. This simply means they are evading tax. In addition to this they by far underpaid the one or two black females that are working for them in the shops (Ras 2008a).

In general, one needs a drastic government intervention to ensure that they will comply with the basic legislation that will also force them to pay taxes. The South African government is literally loosing millions of rands every month because of the Chinese methods of tax evasion.

The Chinese, to use a metaphor, are like ticks on a dog. They use the dog (the govern-ment) for a free ride and to suck them out (blood money). They stay here and make money without returning any money to them. The situation may be different at ports and borders where there are some government control, and even at warehouses in Jeppes-town, but at grass roots level, it is quite a different story. The individual Chinese shop-

owners are making money while the government gets nothing. This takes away the loyalty from good law-abiding citizens when they see and realize this is the situation with the Chinese (Ras 2008a; 2008c:17-18).

CHINESE UBUNTU

When you are looking for something that they do not have in their shop, they normally will immediately call over a two-way radio to another Chinese shop in the same town to ask if they have that item in stock. Alternatively they will immediately send one of their employees to quickly go to another Chinese shop or store to go and get it there. There is no doubt that these stores are linked and that they all work together (Ras 2008c:10,18,

19). Chinese ubuntu means: I will get for you anything because I know you are going to buy it the moment I hand it to you! (Ras 2008a).

CHINESE PAPER WORK

One never sees any Chinese person is doing some paper work in the shop, for example, doing stock takings or something similar. Any form of financial reconciliation never

takes place in front of any customer. How they manage to remember everything is a mystery. I have never seen them busy to count stock or to close the shop in order to do that.

I also have never been physically present in their shops when the bakkies come to drop off some goods. I have seen the drivers and the goods in the shops, but not what they do in terms of paper work. I think it is safe to say that there paper work is probably only between the drivers who deliver the goods and the shop owner or manager who receive the goods. Any other paper work (reconciliations) is basically non-existing (Ras 2008a).

CHINESE BUSINESS STRATEGIES

There is not a lot that is known about the strategies of the Chinese at grass roots level when it comes to business strategies. It seems they all follow the same recipe, and that is, what the other Chinese have done before the, have worked, and they now do the same.

However, it seems there are a few matters that stand out:

In general they are friendly and helpful. With friendliness I don’t mean they follow you in the shop and ask if they can help you. They don’t follow you. They send the black lady. However, when you need something or ask for something they immediately respond. It is strange that they always immediately respond to help you when you ask about sizes and certain numbers, when they know there’s a sale coming up, but when you ask other things they are dumb.

They are helpful because they will go out of their way, literally sending someone out of their shop to another Chinese shop to go and fetch something for you. Some of the shop owners have also sellers outside on the street selling some Chinese stuff. They are in contact with them through radio (normally other Chinese that is also on the pavement), like in Grahamstown, or they are very close by like in many northern-KwaZulu-Natal towns, where the sellers are actually outside the shop.

Another thing that is common with many eastern foreigners is that when they see you buy one item they immediately will try to sell another item that they think may interest you. This happens very often in the Chinese and Indian shops. The Chinese will especially do that when they see you are really interested to buy.

At one stage I bought very beautiful white lace-up boots for my wife in Piet Retief, they did not had the item (about R 200.00), but immediately call over the radio, personally went out to fetch the size in the same white colour that I want. On another occasion in Grahamstown, they call over the two-way radio and order things.

CHINESE FOOD

They are very often eating inside the shop, especially during lunch times. The Chinese women will eat rice with green beans or something in that regard. It is typical Chinese type of food, like noodles and stuff. I have never seen them eating some local stuff like bread and putu (Ras 2008a; Mhlongo 2008).

I was quite surprise the other day when I passed one in KwaDukuza, busy eating rice and noodles, and when I came to the till point to pay she immediately tell the other one at the till what is the price of the article that I want to buy. The article was not priced. I was walking in such a manner that she could not see the article clearly. It indicates how observant they are when it comes to their stock (Ras 2008a).

CHINESE ELECTRONICS

In most of the Chinese shops they are selling very cheap television sets to the public. When you want to buy one they tell you there is no guarantee on the thing. They do not take it back when you buy it and want to bring it back because it is faulty. The same can be said of all the radios that they sell and other small electronic things like watches, wall watches, torches, and so forth.

They never repair any electronic items, like the Pakistanis, for example, in their shops/ The electronic stuff will stand their and they will only sell it. The electronic stuff is also always very close to the till, while the clothes, especially the men’s clothes, if they do stock them, are far inside the shop at the back. They want to make sure someone, they have black men in mind, don’t come in and grab something and quickly ran away.

OTHER CHINESE BUSINESS INTERESTS

The Chinese is mostly selling ladies clothes, shoes, hand bags and sports bags and men’s sports’ shoes. In addition, they sell, jackets, jeans, lingerie or underwear, belts, and anything that you can wear. They also have umbrellas, bicycles, small electronics, but very seldom any cell phones.

However, there are a few Chinese who now are also selling cell phones. In Empangeni, for example, there are also Chinese who have open a shop to sell sweets, food, washing powder, plastic buckets, and all kinds of small items that one typically expect to buy

from the Indians (Mhlongo 2008). It seems that the Chinese are now also moving into business ventures that traditionally were regarded as Indian or Pakistani (specializing in cell phones).

LEGAL ADVISORS

There is no doubt that the Chinese also have their legal advisors. I recently was visiting my attorney early one morning when I saw a Chinese man in a suit and tie with another Chinese man waiting for my attorney. This is something you do not very often see, but it indicates that they also make use of legal advisors when it is absolute necessary and they cannot solve their own matters.

CHINESE FUNDS-GENERATORS AND BUSINESS MARKETING STRATE-GIES

The biggest generator of funds is the very low prices that they have. They focus on the black market and it is safe to say that almost all of their shops, ninety five percent or more, are situated in the black areas or where there is a high flow of black African people. They seldom cater for the higher social market. As mentioned before, handbags, shoes, t-shirts, trousers and radios are the main attractions that they offer.

The type of clothes is almost the same in every Chinese shop. They also cell bicycles at times although not many shops offer that. They always stock their shops full so that the impression is created that they have new stock all the time. The pack many of their stock immediately outside their doors, from the floor to high, eye level, in order to draw your attention. Stock visibility and the playing of traditional Zulu music inside and outside

on the street immediately in front of the shop are typical marketing strategies that they employ to grab your attention in KwaZulu-Natal (Ras 2008c:21-22).

Another important thing is the fact that they are visible nationwide, and that their main warehouses and their advisors, including the vehicle drivers to travel around, can provide them with valuable information of what is happening at other places and how people do things there in order to make money and to survive. This direct link to the main centers and to knowledge about prices elsewhere, including the fact that there are many family members working in different geographical places, selling the same stuff, are also contri-

buting to their success.

A young Chinese man in Piet Retief (Mpumalanga) told me one day that he has a relative that is running a store in Empangeni, that is 300 kilometers away. It seems that once they are moving away from the main city centers like Johannesburg and Durban, to smaller places, they then spread from these small towns to other possible towns close by. There is no doubt that they are highly successful in multiplying their shops and that they are always staying in business. The fact that they remain open for years indicate that they make enough money to survive and to make a proper and decent living.

For many years, there was an old strongly build Chinese man that was selling on the street (pavement) everyday, who parked his red BMW, next to his stuff. One can later see who are making money because one can see their lifestyle is improving. The net-works behind the scenes, however, are still mainly unexplored (Ras 2008a).

ATTACKS ON CHINESE

The Chinese are very seldom attacked or robbed by black Africans who are responsible for most theft and robberies in South Africa. Many black people believe it is because they (Chinese) are very good in karate because that is what is portrayed through the media (videos and TV).

Other black people see the Chinese as people who are always helping the poor, that is, them (Africans). Since they can remember, the Chinese people were there with their cheap prices. They always cater for the poorest people and are never trying to make too much money out of the black people. That is why the majority, if not most black Afri-cans, see the Chinese not as a threat, but rather as a blessing (Ras 2008c:22-23).

LEGAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE CHINESE AS AFRICAN PEOPLE

In a recent court case the constitutional court has ruled that the Chinese must be regarded as African. This means that they are now part of Africans that can benefit from BEE (black economic empowerment) deals. Only white males are regarded as not African.

Many people, especially within the black communities, including the Minister of Labour, has said that this decision is not right. For the Minister the Chinese can never be seen as black. However, the court ruling is the decisive one and this means in practice that Chinese business men will get more recognition and government deals in future in South Africa (Ras 2008c:23).

HOW MANY CHINESE SHOPS ARE THERE?

Prominent Chinese shops that I personally have visited include inter alia Stanger, Piet Retief, Hendrina, Carolina, Vryheid, Ladysmith, Tongaat, Grahamstown, Umtata, Durban, Ermelo, Winterton, Empangeni, Richards Bay, Springs, Pretoria, Sabie. In all these shops the Chinese women are the main ones who are selling and try to approach you if the black shop assistants did not already do that.

There are basically about 7 000 towns, cities and townships in South Africa. If one argues that there are about ten Chinese shops in every town or township (including the cities that obviously have many more), and multiply this number with ten, one gets

70 000 Chinese shops (Cf. Ras 2006:461-462).

HOW MUCH MONEY DOES THE CHINESE GENERATES PER MONTH?

If every one of these 70 000 Chinese shop generates just R 10 000.00 per month (gross total), that means there are about R 700 000 000.00 (seven hundred million rand) that

is in circulation every per month in South Africa. Imagine now how much many the government is losing every month when it comes to taxes that they never receive because no till slips are given because the money don’t really go through the tills, books, the auditors, and through the South African revenue Services (SARS).

What is worrying is the fact that most Chinese shops by far exceeds this amount. Some shops will generate at least R 2000.00 (two thousand rand) per day, that is an estimated average of about R 60 000.00 (sixty thousand rand per month per shop). If you multiply that amount with 70 000 Chinese shops in the country one gets an astronomical amount of R 4 200 000 000.00 (four thousand two hundred million rand) per month! This is just an estimation, the figure will be higher if one thinks of the gross total income of the all the many Chinese shops in the cities that by far exceeds 10 (ten) per city, or even a major suburb.

HOW MUCH MONEY DOES THE CHINESE SHOPS GENERATE PER ANNUM?

If about R 4 200 000 000.00 (four thousand two hundred million rand) is the estimated gross total that 70 000 Chinese shops generate per month, that is, each generates about

R 2000.00 (two thousand rand) per day, then one can expect a staggering annual income. When one multiplies R 4 200 000 000.00 with 12 (number of months per year) one gets the amazing and unbelievable amount of R 50 400 000 000.00 (fifty thousand four hundred million rand) per annum!

What this basically means is that the South African Revenue Services is loosing millions and millions of rand per annum because the Chinese shop owners are having free reins in this country. They make money and multiply everywhere and do not put back into the country what other honest and hard working tax payers are suppose to do and are busy doing. This is more than a national crisis that needs to be addressed at Presidential le-

vel in order to ensure a tremendous cash injection into the almost empty coffers of national government (Ras 2008a).

CHINESE TACTICS OF DELAY

The Chinese is playing hide and seek with Department of Labour officials on a daily basis all over South Africa. They definitely implement a tactic of delay. As mentioned before, they do not comply with basic labour regulations at grass roots level. When the Department wants to close down the shop after several visits and threats to close the shop, then they get a lawyer and suddenly understand English, or they move the shop to another place.

When there is really a problem, they then already have organized a new premise with a shop from where they can operate. They will then move to another town and someone else (other Chinese) will come to that town where they have been closed down. In this way they keep on operating while the official of the Department is tied up by red tape and an inability to go and work in another province or place or to do some follow-ups at other areas outside their normal jurisdiction.

THE POLICE AND THE CHINESE

The police (SAPS) very often visit the Chinese shops and ask for the id’s of the Chinese people. In Carolina, for example, a one young Chinese man told me the police expect small money from the shop owner in order to let them go without South African home affairs approval. This young man personally showed me his Chinese pass port and told me that on two or three occasions he had to give a black policeman money (R20.00 or more, but not too much) in order not to get into trouble.

In Carolina, the shops of the Chinese, Somalis and Pakistanis are opposite each other. One Pakistani has a relationship with a Somali girl. Their religion (Muslims) binds them together. The Pakistanis sell cell phones and the Somalis clothes and curtains. The Chinese here sell mostly clothes, shoes, bags and radios. In this town there is also one Chinese woman (in the forties) who alone possesses the shop. She does not want to talk at all. Her family is from mainland China and I really struggled to get basic information from her (Ras 2008a).

THE CHINESE IN THE TOWNSHIPS

In the Eastern Cape many of the Chinese shops are in the heart of the townships and it seems as if the Chinese people are also staying there. In the rural area of Ntambanana, outside Empangeni, there is a Chinese shop directly next to the police station, and the Chinese driver also parked his vehicle inside the police station. It now happens all more and more that the Chinese move into the black rural areas, like the Chinese countryside, to do business there.

In many small towns, whether it is Amsterdam, Hendriena, KwaMbonambi, or Vryheid, one can expect the presence of Chinese people in the towns and in the rural areas. There is no doubt in my mind that the Chinese is present everywhere in South Africa but that their presence and expansion is done in such a subtle way that no one fully realizes this until one makes them aware of that. They are now such an integral part of our economy that one (especially black South Africans) simply cannot exist without them. They are like a 24-hour garage or fuel service station. One always needs that.

A FEW RECOMMENDATIONS

It is too late to get rid of their existence. They are too well spread over the country and have nestled themselves too deep into the hearts and minds of the local black South Africans who support them tremendously. In fact, their shops are the cheapest places

to go when you want to buy – even beating a might national brand like Pep Stores.

Appoint a few Chinese translators who must work hand in hand with the Department of Labour and SARS to start ensuring that they comply with the labour laws and especially their financial obligations.

The millions of rand that are going through Chinese tills every month in South Africa need to be monitored legally and continuously through sound business practices. The border police also need to ensure thorough investigations into Chinese goods and people. The same apply to organized crime, the intelligence services and agencies that need to coordinate all their efforts in order to investigate and look at this economic giant.

At grass roots level Chinese shop owners need to start issuing till slips. Have a Chinese imbizo with the Chinese consul and implement a plan to legalize their businesses and to keep them tax compliant. Let Chinese shop owners work together in partnerships with other locals to ensure local empowerment. At this stage only the Chinese benefit through profit making and definitely not the government – except for those taxes the Chinese pay when they bring in goods that go through the legal channels.

CONTINUOUS RESEARCH

I have realized that I simply have not even see the proverbial drop in the bucket. A lot of research needs to be done on the Chinese. Within China, the Chinese is exploring and attacking cyberspace aggressively in order to control cyberspace within the next ten to twenty years.

It is scary to think that this economic giant will be bigger and more powerful than the mightiest countries in the world, simply because they have the numbers (people), but most of all, the attitude to make use of illegal methods to spread their way of doing things. They are economic imperialists (Ras 2008a).

They know they need to expand or they will have to go to war in order to create markets for all their products and people. They also know that if they do not get raw material for all the people in their country they will have to make war to get it. By allowing them into South Africa and making them our friends, we prevent them from killing us on the long run, but by allowing them in without drawing the line, we are strangling our own people.

We need to do proper research on the Chinese to ensure that we at least know what is coming and what the impact will be upon ourselves.

BUYING CHINESE SHOES

I would like to share this beautiful discovery with you. I saw this beautiful pair of shoes for R 120.00 (hundred and twenty rands) in a Chinese shop in perhaps one of the most remote rural areas of our country. I decided to buy it for a friend. When I picked up the shoes the outside label reads that the upper leather of the shoes are made from bison leather (the American buffalo skin), the labels inside the shoes were saying the shoes were styled in Italy, and underneath each shoe it was written, made in China.

I felt so proud that I could buy this unique pair of shoes in this remote God-forsaken town in South Africa, knowing that my shoes have “traveled” all around the globe! From the mighty United States of America, to Europe’s Italy, to mainland China, while I am buy-ing it here in a remote countryside place in South Africa! I felt small, good, and proud! I thought, “This just shows you what the Chinese can do!” - although I knew that these shoes could not have been made of real American leather, the style was illegally copied, and everything was probably made in one or other cheap factory in China.

CONCLUDING REMARK

My one Chinese colleague once said that there is a Chinese saying that says, “When you come at the end of a book, you close the book.” That is beautiful. But I say, “When you get a Chinese book, read it, but when you reach the end, don’t put it down, go and look where is the Chinese and see what is he doing.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY / SOURCES CONSULTED

Gumede, E. 2007. Personal conversation with E. Gumede, a private security officer,

KwaZulu-Natal.

Accessed on

19 October 2007.

Khalidheen, R. 2008. Policing Mechanisms to Counter Terrorists Attacks in South

Africa. Masters dissertation. Pretoria: UNISA.

Mhlongo, Z. P. 2008. Personal conversation with Z. P. Mhlongo, a private security

officer and a Safety and Security Education Training Authority (SASSETA)

Assessor and Moderator.

Peters, D. 1999. Leef Gesond. Konsultant-Redakteur: D. Peters. Kaapstad: Tafelberg

Uitgewers.

Qiang, Y. 2007. Personal conversation with Y. Qinag, a Chinese shop owner in

KwaZulu-Natal.

Ras, J. M. 1999. A reader, entitled: TRS 215. Chinese Religion. Compiler: Prof. Dr.

J. M. Ras. Department of Religion Studies. Faculty of Theology and Religion

Studies. KwaDlangezwa: University of Zululand.

Ras, J. M. 2002. An Introduction to Physical Warfare (Combat). KwaDlangezwa:

University of Zululand.

Ras, J. M. 2006. Body Guarding in a Private Security Context. Doctoral thesis.

KwaDlangezwa: University of Zululand.

Ras, J. M. 2008a. Personal opinions and beliefs of the author in the light of his past

studies, investigations, experiences and research.

Ras, J. M. 2008b. Undercovers. KwaDlangezwa: University of Zululand.

Ras, J. M. 2008c. The Chinese Invasion in South Africa. KwaDlangezwa: University of

Zululand.

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