Durban — Local spaza shop owners were encouraged to revive their businesses in the townships and avoid renting out their shops to foreign nationals.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube shared her views on bringing back spaza shops to locals during the Rebranding Spaza Shop Indaba 2024, held at The Station in Durban, on Monday.
The indaba explored support services to the informal market sector to manage the challenges that entrepreneurs face and advance them as digital centres of commerce in townships.
The event was hosted in partnership with the Department of Small Business Development and Wear Your Brand Organisation.
Dube-Ncube said the importance of payment of social grants in local townships was for the people to receive money and also buy from their nearest spaza shops which would help build the economy.
“We have challenged the minister of Social Development a number of times and we are still talking with her on the issue of people not being able to receive social grants from our townships. It could be due to cash-in-transit heists. If that is the case we could find ways to secure those areas,” she said.
She urged communities to make their areas’ safety a priority as this would encourage the government to assist them in bringing back the payment of social grants in townships.
“Another important part of this plan is working with the municipality in enforcing strict by-laws and to ensure that there would be no business operating without any permit. That causes issues with people unlawfully benefiting from the economy. We understand that there are situations where locals rent out their spaza shops to foreign nationals. We urge them to bring back their rented spaza shops,” she said.
The premier said the government wanted to offer pre and post-investment support to local spaza shop owners and pay point machines in collaboration with the Ithala Bank and the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea).
Bheki “Ma-events” Twala, founder and president of the Township Economic Commission of South Africa encouraged collaboration.
Twala said that collaboration and partnership will be the key to success.
“Our solution should not only come from the premier but us. We should also bear in mind that what we build will benefit future generations too. There is only one thing that we need-and that is money.”
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Daily News