Over 15 000 Gauteng spaza shops deemed non-compliant, 7 000 foreign nationals apply

A large portion of Gauteng’s spaza shops and food outlets may be forced to close their doors.

Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Development Lebogang Maile on Sunday gave an update on the province’s spaza shop registration drive which ended on 28 February.

Maile praised the patience of business owners and the dedication of officials who assisted with the registration process.

15 000 businesses non-compliant

The registration drive was justified as a way to clamp down on hazardous foods being sold to unsuspecting children in the wake of multiple food poisoning incidents in 2024.

Maile stated that 17 617 registration applications had been submitted in person and that 29 116 inspections had been conducted so far, with some of those predating the registration drive.  

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The food poisoning concerns ran parallel with calls to limit foreign ownership of spaza shops, and Maile revealed that 7 107 registration applications had come from foreign nationals.

Maile said non-compliance had been a stubborn challenge throughout the registration programme.

“A total of 15 478 spaza shops and food handling facilities have been deemed non-compliant, with 498 of these closed with immediate effect,” said Maile.

Business licences unaffordable

Maile clarified that as well as the 17 000 that registered in person, roughly 26 000 vendors were visited by department officials.

“From the onset, we had appreciation of the limitations of communication and the fact that we can not just communicate through social media and mainstream media, we must also go to people,” said Maile.

The MEC said most instances of non-compliance were due to a failure to adhere to food safety and environmental safety standards, and that the locations of businesses in undeclared townships was problematic.

“Other factors that have impacted the number of approvals, include the submission of fraudulent documentation, delays in the verification of foreign nationals by the department of home affairs, incomplete documentation, the contravention of building regulations on the part of business owners and the high cost of business licences,” stated Maile.  

“With regard to the high cost of business licences, the Gauteng provincial government is exploring various mechanisms to support locally owned or complaint enterprises,” he added.

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