By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Government has approved R179.6 million in funding to support shop owners across all nine provinces, as part of R500 million Spaza Shop Support Fund.
The fund was launched in 2025 to support South African-owned spaza shops in townships and rural areas, following government concerns about food poisoning.
The fund, aimed at increasing South African ownership in the township and rural retail trade sector, was launched last year by the Department of Small Business Development and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.
The Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency (SEDFA) has approved 1 316 applications valued at R79.6 million, while the National Empowerment Fund has approved 1 053 enterprises valued at R99.9 million. So, collectively, the two implementing agencies have approved support to the value of approximately R 179.6 million across all nine provinces.
Department of Small Business Development Director-General Thulisile Manzini said on Friday the fund has continued to gain traction since implementation.
“To date, 4 522 complete applications have been received nationally, of which 4 240 have been assessed,” Manzini said.
However, the assessment process has highlighted significant structural constraints within the sector, with only 58% of applicants linked to valid business licences or temporary permits issued by municipalities.
“As a result, a significant number of applications remain unable to progress until licensing and compliance requirements have been addressed,” she said.
Site visits and verification processes have identified 354 applications that could not proceed due to non-compliance, including non-existent businesses, ownership discrepancies, and inconsistencies between applicants and operators.
She added that 2,369 businesses have so far been approved for support under the fund, with both implementing agencies continuing to process applications that meet all compliance and verification requirements.
SEDFA and the NEF continue to provide targeted business development support, including training and compliance assistance.
This covers areas such as business and financial management, point-of-sale systems training, digital literacy, credit management, regulatory compliance, and business formalisation support.
In addition, the implementing agencies will once again embark on a nationwide outreach and awareness programme from June 2026 to encourage more qualifying spaza shop owners to apply and to assist enterprises requiring compliance support.