Spaza shop registration: A mere 6% have been licensed, says Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams

A mere 6% of registered spaza shops have been issued with licences, Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said.

Ndabeni-Abrahams disclosed that a total of 87 407 spaza shops have been registered since the registration was closed.

“Out of that 87 407, 54 583 are owned by South Africans while 32 824 are owned by non-South Africans.

"And out of that number, only 5 456 have been issued licences,” she said.

Ndabeni-Abrahams gave the figures during a question and answer session in the National Assembly on Wednesday, when ANC MP Cristopher Malematja enquired about the number of spaza shops that have been registered since the expiry of the deadline for their registration.

She told MPs that the process of registering spaza shops was the competency of the municipalities.

“The numbers that I'm presenting here are numbers that we have received from the report as we work together with the Department of Cogta.

"In order to make sure that we also verify the information that we have received, our teams are able to then account for the numbers that have been verified.”

The registration of spaza shops was ordered by President Cyril Ramaphosa last November following the deaths of at least 22 children after a total of 890 reported incidents of food-borne illnesses were reported across all provinces.

Ramaphosa announced that all spaza shops and other food handling facilities should be registered within the municipalities in which they operate within 21 days.

Those that were not registered within the stipulated time and did not meet all health standards and requirements were to be closed.

However, the initial deadline was extended amid integrated multidisciplinary inspection teams undertaking compliance inspections of food handling facilities, manufacturers, distributors, wholesaler and retailers.

In a follow-up question, Malematja enquired about the specific legal, administrative and operational criteria utilised by Ndabeni-Abrahams's department and its agencies to assess compliance during the spaza shop registration process.

He also asked about the number of shops that have been closed due to non-compliance since the expiration of the registration deadline and reasons cited for their his closure.

In response, Ndabeni-Abrahams cited the Businesses Act, the National Consumer Protection Act, the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics, and Disinfectants Act and the National Health Act as the legislation to ensure compliance by the spaza shops.

“All of these seek to do the most important things, address the challenges that talk to the absence of valid trading licenses or permits and look into the failures that are there to register businesses with appropriate authorities.”

However, Ndabeni-Abrahams said they were awaiting an updated report from the NatJoints of the number of the spaza shops that will be closed or that have been closed since the registration process.

Ndabeni-Abrahams said the R500m fund that has been established with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has not dispensed monies as yet, pending the verification of spaza shops.

She explained that the fund will benefit compliant South African-owned businesses and those owned by those foreigners naturalised prior to 1994.

Cape Argus