MANYANE MANYANE

The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in Gauteng demands transparency in the disbursement of the R500 million to support spaza shops.

The party said there had been no clarity on the allocation process and the beneficiaries.

It said this undermines public confidence and raises serious concerns about equitable resource distribution.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last month that a fund of R500 million would be established to support small businesses in townships, including spaza shops.

This would be a joint fund managed by the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition and the Department of Small Business Development.

Ramaphosa said this was part of the government’s response to illness and deaths linked to certain spaza shops and street vendors.

The ANCYL strongly demands that a significant portion of this funding be directed toward youth-owned spaza shops, which is critical in addressing youth unemployment and positioning young people as active participants in economic growth,” said the party’s provincial secretary, Mpume Sangweni.

“While compliance and regulation are essential, these efforts must go beyond bureaucratic

box-ticking exercises. This initiative should be a catalyst for meaningful economic transformation and social change. The ANCYL in Gauteng calls on the government to urgently introspect and reform its approach to ensure that the spaza shop registration directive achieves its intended objectives,” Sangweni said.

Sangweni said the youth league was also concerned by the glaring shortcomings and challenges in implementing the registration of spaza shops within the stipulated deadline in the province.

Sangweni added that while the intention behind spaza shop registration was commendable, the execution has been an administrative catastrophe - characterised by corruption, inefficiency, and uncoordinated efforts by the government.

He blamed the government for having failed to acknowledge and address the multi-layered challenges within the informal economy.

“While posturing as though compliance is the sole remedy, the authorities continue to neglect the structural and regulatory barriers that hinder the informal sector's growth,” said Sangweni.

He said this lack of political will to support entrepreneurs in the informal economy with practical and context-driven solutions was not new.

“It is disingenuous to reduce non-compliance to a scapegoat for systemic issues without addressing the inherent inefficiencies in government processes. The fragmented approach by government departments has only exacerbated the crisis, leading to increased regulatory red tape, coordination failures, and a lack of support for informal traders.

Particularly concerning are the incidents of South African citizens registering businesses on behalf of undocumented foreign nationals, exposing the glaring inequalities in our economy and the lawlessness that thrives in this sector,” Sangweni said.

Gauteng MEC for Economic Development Lebogang Maile, in a statement issued on Thursday, said the best interests of South African communities are a key priority of the provincial government. He said this would ensure economic empowerment, well-being, health and prosperity of South Africans was the primary intention.

“While we are deeply committed to growing the provincial economy, we are even more committed to ensuring that such growth is inclusive and sustainable and that it does not exclude or marginalise citizens of our country.

Our insistence on compliance is based on the objective of building an economy that grows in the hands of South African communities, and this requires strict adherence to the law, which not only protects but also empowers citizens,” said Maile.

He said the provincial government was aware of the difficulties that South Africans were facing in this difficult economic environment and recognised that supporting and empowering them was non-negotiable.

“It is for this reason that this spaza shop registration process is being simultaneously instituted alongside interventions such as imbizos with township property owners across all regions of the province. The Gauteng provincial government will continue to prioritise the development of interventions that seek to bring locals into the township economy, anchoring this on the principle of redress and affirmative community development.

Maile added that 541 spaza shops have been closed for non-compliance. He said these establishments would not be opened or allowed to operate until such time they meet all compliance requirements as previously stated.

manyane.manyane@inl.co.za