All spaza shops should be open, and informal food traders will be allowed, says NDZ

Speaking at a media briefing on government’s response to the Covid-19 epidemic, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma began by insisting it had been wrong for the police to shut down spaza shops in townships.

She said she did not know where the confusion had come from, and added that informal food traders would also be allowed to operate.

“All spaza shops should be open including informal food traders, but they must get a permit,” she said.

It had earlier been reported by GroundUp, in just one example, of how police shut down immigrant-owned spaza shops early on Friday morning in Govan Mbeki, Port Elizabeth, citing the 21-day national lockdown to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

The spaza shop owners were left confused and scared, GroundUp reported. They complied, but after the police left, residents demanded they reopen their shops.

By mid-morning, the police had returned. Mohamed Surat of Enjeni Spaza shop said he was pepper-sprayed by the police who pushed people out of his shop while their goods and money were still on the counter.

Abdukadir Mohamud of King Spaza said: “Six police vehicles from KwaDwesi police station arrived early in the morning and ordered me to close my shop. I showed them my municipal registration certificate. But their captain told me I am not even a South African and I should close down my shop.

“After they left, the community ordered me to reopen. I reopened and the police came back again before noon. They ordered everybody to get out. The shoppers confronted them. But the cops did not listen. They just pepper-sprayed them. Twenty-one shops here in Govan Mbeki have been closed by the police,” he added.

“But residents are just forcing us to continue trading after the police left. And we are still operating in fear of our stock being looted if we don’t listen to the residents.”

Hours before the lockdown, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola had said spaza shops would remain open in order for people to buy food at the nearest shops.

People should only go further afield if they cannot get what they need. The idea was to have as little movement as possible, Lamola said.

But Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni then said at a ministerial briefing on the lockdown that only South African-owned and operated spaza shops would be allowed to trade.

She added immediately after this: “We want to make sure that the quality of food and surety of the quality of products is there.”

Last Wednesday, Business Insider, seeking clarity, was told by the department that only spaza shops with municipal licences would be allowed to trade.

Speaking in Pretoria today, Dlamini-Zuma said the first week of the shutdown had already provided a number of lessons for government to learn from, she admitted.

Watch the briefing below, courtesy of SABC:

She then went on to explain the changes that have been gazetted on people being allowed to travel between provinces to attend funerals.

In response to questions she had received, she said, undertakers and grave diggers would not be included in the allocation of 50 people maximum allowed to attend any funeral.

Following extensive consultations with the ministers responsible for the country’s Covid-19 interventions and the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), local government minister Dlamini-Zuma gazetted the further amendments to the regulations on the Covid-19 lockdown, with a particular focus on funerals.

According to a statement issued by the Cogta ministry, these amendments were imposed in an effort to reinforce the national response to this crisis.

“These amendments will enhance national integrated response measures while also clarifying the application of the regulations relating to government’s measures to reduce the risk of infection and curtail the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus while maintaining the integrity of the lockdown,” said Cogta.

The amendments now allow certain individuals to move between provinces, metropolitan and district areas for the purposes of transporting a body for burial purposes. The amendment also limits the types of individuals who are permitted to travel to funerals.

The process for obtaining permission in the form of a permit for persons who wish to travel between provinces, or between metropolitan and district areas to attend a burial or cremation, have now also been outlined as follows:

Only the following persons, who live outside a province or metropolitan and district areas, may attend a funeral:
(i) spouse or partner of the deceased;
(ii) children of the deceased, whether biological, adopted or stepchildren.
(iii) children-in-law of the deceased;
(iv) parents of the deceased whether biological, adopted or stepparents;
(v) siblings, whether biological, adopted or stepbrother or sister of the deceased;
(vi) grandparents of the deceased; and
(vii) persons closely affiliated to the deceased.

“The current prohibition of 50 persons attending a funeral is still in operation. The holding of night vigils is still prohibited,” added the ministry.

The permit may be obtained from either a magistrate who is the head of office or a station commander of a police station or a person designated by him or her.

In order to obtain a permit, one must provide a death certificate or a certified copy of a death certificate to the magistrate who is the head of office or the station commander of a police station or a person designated by him or her.

The ministry advised it was important to note that a permit holder may stay at a hotel, lodge or guest house for the duration of the funeral or cremation.

The permit must be presented to the owner or manager of the hotel, lodge or guest house.

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