By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Small Business Development Stella Ndabeni led a Joint Nerve Centre Media Briefing with Economic Cluster MECs on the Spaza Shop & Food Outlet Registration deadline.
All spaza shops in the country had to be registered by 28 February 2025 after the deaths of children last year were suspected to be related to food items bought at spaza shops.
Ndabeni said it was exactly 107 days since the initial announcement of spaza shop registration. She said she was there to report on the progress of business registration and interventions by the department “as part of assisting small businesses and curbing further foodborne illnesses”.
She said it was important to clarify that reaching the deadline for the registration period did not “necessarily mean that the problems and challenges of compliance by spaza shops and food handling outlets are over, nor does it mean that the sector is now fully regulated to adhere to the laws and regulations of the country”.
The ultimate aim was two fold – to ensure compliance with all food safety standards and then rebuild a “more competitive and compliant business”.
This was among the interventions in a multidisciplinary approach in curbing foodborne ailments.
Ndabeni said her department supported the registration process, which the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs would elaborate on in two weeks.
Ndabeni said she was there to speak only on her department’s work. When asked by journalists if the government would extend the registration period, she said: “I did indicate earlier, we’re speaking only on business here… The Natjoints (National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure), after receiving all the reports, will look at whatever needs to be looked at and we’ll make a determination and they will advise the country on what next – the registration [deadline] was only on Friday, and then that information needs to be consolidated.”
On the registrations, Ndabeni said that “we know the process had challenges, with many municipalities not having electronic business registration systems”.
She said she understood the difficulties and costs associated with becoming compliant. “This is why over the next six months we will be supporting these spaza shops who applied, but are not yet compliant, with non-financial support to enable their successful registration and compliance.”
Ndabeni said her department already had spaza shop support and training programmes under way for essentials such as inventory management and equipment such as point of sale systems.
“We also have a range of other interventions and offerings to support township and rural enterprises, including Trep (the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme), asset assist, business infrastructure support, as well as wholesale and direct lending, as well as credit guarantees we offer to banks to get them to lend to township and rural enterprises,” said Ndabeni.
She announced a R500-million spaza shop support fund that would be launched in two weeks “to support township convenience shops, including spaza stores”.
Her department would provide R150-million while R350-million would come from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, said Ndabeni.
She explained that the fund aimed to achieve economies of scale “by linking spaza shops and food handling outlets to buying groups for bulk purchasing” and the building of business capacity through training and support. In addition, Ndabeni said the fund aimed to “enhance market competitiveness to help spaza shops and food handling outlets compete with larger retailers”.