Cape Town — Minister of Small Business Development Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said all spaza shops that were registered before the deadline of 28 February would not be punished, even if they have not received documents of the outcome.
Spaza shop owners and informal traders were scrambling to get their businesses registered and certified before the 28 February deadline as calls grew for shops to be certified following a spate of foodborne illnesses and deaths linked to spaza shop purchases.
Following the deadline last Friday, Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams revealed that the full number of spaza shop registrations are not ready yet, as the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) will present those figures in roughly two weeks, The Citizen reported.
[Photos] @DSBD_SA led by Minister @Stellarated hosted a joint Nerve Centre media briefing alongside Members of the Executive (MECs) responsible for the Economic Cluster across provinces.
The briefing focused on the conclusion of the spaza shop and food outlet registration… pic.twitter.com/w9np41qI51
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) March 2, 2025
The Minister also revealed that only 60 out of 257 municipalities in the country had access to digital business registrations, with the rest completing it manually. She said business owners who submitted their registration documents but were not notified of the outcome would not be penalised.
“We do know that the process had challenges, with mnay municipalities not having digital businesss registration system,” she said.
“Now we want to say to all those who have adhered and those that are within their constitutional right to do business but are still awaiting the processes in terms of the outcomes of their registration, will not be penalised,” she added.
She said the businesses who went through the manual registration process could not be penalised as it was not their fault.
“It is not the fault of the business owners; it is the government’s responsibility to smoothen the process,” she said.
To all the spaza shop owners and food handling outlets that have adhered to the registration period and are within their constitutional rights to do business… #GovZAUpdates #FoodSafetyZA pic.twitter.com/jU26DtvgXn
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) March 2, 2025
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
