Spaza shop registration deadline ‘locks out many’, groups say

As the deadline for spaza shop owners to register officially closed yesterday, some were calling for an extension, citing logistical challenges and more time to comply.

The 21-day registration period was declared by President Cyril Ramaphosa last month, following more than 20 children who died due to suspected food contamination linked to these shops.

Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia expressed serious concern over the government’s continued silence regarding the extension of the registration deadline.

Concern over silence regarding deadline

Coordinator Mike Ndlovu said shop owners were being denied forms for registration and they were currently investigating some municipalities that refused to give owners the forms.

The forms were also not readily available online, registration lacked multilingual support and people had to travel to go through the registration process, he said.

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“The original barriers persist and have now been worsened by the continued lack of accessible registration forms, ongoing intimidation of spaza shop owners, zero clarity on compliance expectations and potential economic and legal vulnerability for small business owners,” Ndlovu said.

The coalition of more than 60 organisations submitted a formal request at the beginning of the month to multiple government ministers, including the president, the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) and the minister of small business development.

The group asked for an extension of the deadline for at least three months, but no official response had been received.

Asking for thre month extension for spaza registration

“The lack of government’s response threatens to push vulnerable small business owners – whatever their nationality – into informal, unregulated operations, increase economic insecurity for migrant and local entrepreneurs, undermine public health interventions and create further social tension.”

Ramaphosa announced a string of measures, including “any shop that is not registered within 21 days and does not meet all health standards and requirements will be closed”.

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But Ndlovu said due to the challenges faced by the spaza shop owners, the majority of whom are foreign nationals, the 21-day period was insufficient.

“The government’s silence is not just bureaucratic negligence, it’s a direct threat to the livelihoods of thousands of small business owners who are critical to our local economic ecosystem and will affect food affordability for millions of South Africans who rely on spaza shops.

“It will also result in the increased dominance of corporate food retailers in the township economy – the very opposite of what the government has publicly indicated they want.”

Increased dominance of corporate food retailers in township economy

While Cogta was yet to confirm the total number of businesses registered countrywide, finance and economic development MEC Lebogang Maile said in Gauteng 4 521 people had already submitted their forms; 2 605 of them were foreign nationals.

Yesterday, queues were heavily backed up in Jabulani, Soweto, with many waiting to register their businesses.

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Cogta Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa previously said a review screening process would get underway once registration processes closed, while those who had failed to register on time would be shut down.

Bongani Mkwananzi of the Africa Diaspora Forum said this was unfair because for many foreigners, registering a business had become nearly impossible.

“The registration period has not been smooth and in some instances had been marked by attempts to deliberately hinder foreign nationals.

Registration not going smoothly

“Many of our members have reported being restricted from registering businesses, often by members of the public, particularly in areas like Soweto. They have been turned away making the registration process extremely difficult,” Mkwananzi said.

“This cut-throat deadline is not helpful for anyone, including South Africans. The process is actually locking out a lot of people; 21 days was too short a period. We don’t believe this process should have a deadline,” Mkwananzi said.

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