‘South Africans must decide if they buy from spaza shops’ – Ntshavheni

Spaza Shops

Cape Town — Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said it was down to South Africans to decide whether or not they want to buy goods from spaza shops.

Ntshavheni was speaking during a post-cabinet media briefing on Thursday to discuss the five children who died after consuming products bought from a spaza shop in Naledi. The five children were aged between six and 10 years, while another is still currently in the intensive care unit (ICU) after he was admitted to hospital on Sunday, IOL reported.

Ntshavheni said the issue of spaza shop regulations was a long-standing issue that has plagued the country since her tenure as Small Business Development Minister, according to EWN.

She said the attempts to register spaza shops were defeated in court, which left the government powerless. She said that South Africans needed to deal with the sector accused of selling expired foods.

“We must decide as a society that we are not buying at the spaza shops. We are not buying at spaza shops where we are not sure where they are buying their products. We are not buying at spaza shops where spaza shops are not registered in their municipalities,” she said.

Ntshavheni said South Africans must also demand to see any form of registration with local authorities the next time they head to a spaza shop.

As reported by TimesLIVE, Ntshavheni explained that some unregistered spaza shops are run illegally by foreigners who are in South Africa illegally. She said some of the stock is from their backyards.

She urged South Africans to demand to see the registration certificate when they go to a spaza shop.

“When I was minister of small business development we started a drive to make sure all spaza shops are registered. That would have dealt with the ownership of spaza shops in South Africa, but it was South Africans who took us to court, saying you cannot force registration,” she said.

Ntshavheni also explained that a court judgement saw illegal foreigners are allowed to operate, but the law says to operate a business in South Africa, you must be registered and for foreigners, it requires an investment of no less than R5 million. However, she said no spaza shop costs R5 million or more.

It was we South Africans who complained when municipal officials were conducting raids, confiscating and dumping food that was not certified, some of it expired. We can’t have our cake and eat it. We must decide what is in our best interests and I am sure the lives of our children and our own lives are more important than buying cheaper fake products,” she said.

She hoped that the various departments would come together to make inspections and ensure businesses operating in townships and villages were registered.

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Compiled by Matthew Petersen

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