‘The law can burn you’: Ramaphosa warns citizens against registering spaza shops for foreigners

President Cyril Ramaphosa has cautioned South Africans against registering spaza shops on behalf of foreign nationals.

He emphasised the importance of working within legal frameworks to address potential irregularities in business registrations.

Speaking on Sunday at an ANC event in Thabazimbi, Limpopo, Ramaphosa highlighted concerns about fraudulent registration practices.

“We’ve now realised that there is some crookery that is going on, where people are using other people to register when they themselves are not registrable,” the president stated.

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This follows the 21-day deadline he gave spaza shop owners to legally register their businesses with their respective municipalities after over 20 children died, and hundreds more have fallen ill throughout the country in the past few weeks after allegedly eating contaminated snacks from tuck shops and exposure to pesticides.

Spaza shops who don’t meet standards will be closed – Ramaphosa

There have been reports of community members acting as inspectors and visiting spaza shops to ensure that they are registered and compliant.

Ramaphosa called on citizens to refrain from taking matters into their own hands, urging cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

“Do not take the law into your hands,” Ramaphosa emphasised.

“The law can burn you wait so therefore you wait for the law enforcement agencies, you cooperate with them, you point them in the right direction, and they are the ones who must take action.”

He said those who did not cooperate would “needlessly face the consequences on your own when you work outside the law, so you want people to work within the law.”

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa warns of action if spaza shops don’t register [VIDEO]

Ramaphosa further explained the government’s methodical approach to addressing non-compliant shops.

“What we have done is open an opportunity to legalise those that meet the regulations and the conditions,” he said. “Those [spaza shops] that don’t meet the standards, [and] who don’t comply, we will close them.”

Watch the video below:

We do not encourage communities to take the law into their own hands. We call on communities to work together with law enforcement agencies, point them in the right direction, and it is the law enforcement agencies that must take action. pic.twitter.com/UMwAYUiXq9

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) December 1, 2024

The president confirmed that authorities have already begun closing spaza shops with doubtful business practices.

“We’ve already started closing a number of spaza shops, particularly those that have suspicious storing facilities that are selling suspicious goods,” Ramaphosa stated.

“We don’t encourage people to take the law into their hands. The government has its structures that are empowered, that have the authority to work within the law to deal with issues like this.”

ALSO READ: Over 3,000 Gauteng spaza shops per year found to be non-compliant since 2020

Spaza shop registrations qualifying criteria

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Thembi Simelane, in a previous press briefing, outlined strict criteria for spaza shop registration.

She said the qualifying criteria for registering spaza shops were “very specific”, and emphasised that “the owner of the business must be a South African citizen operating within the borders of the country”.

Simelane further added that spaza shops should be registered with the relevant municipality in accordance with its bylaws and must have valid registration with the South African Revenue Service (Sars).

The justice minister warned against “fronting” businesses, citing the Immigration Act, which prohibits assisting illegal foreigners in obtaining business licenses or conducting commercial activities.

Minister of Small Business Development Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams added her own warning, stating that the system will ultimately catch those attempting to register businesses on behalf of foreign nationals.

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