Government initiative aims to boost township businesses and ensure food safety compliance
Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has announced a R500 million support fund for spaza shops, set to launch within the next two weeks. The initiative comes after the February 28 deadline for registration of spaza shops and food handling outlets across the country.
“We will now take this initiative to scale with the R500 million spaza shop support fund that will soon be launched to support township convenience shops, including spaza stores,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said during a media briefing in Pretoria on Sunday.
The fund aims to achieve economies of scale by linking spaza shops to buying groups for bulk purchasing, while also building business capacity through training and operational support.
For start-up businesses, the department has allocated a minimum of R10,000 per qualifying business, with an additional R40,000 available to facilitate bulk-buying of stock.
The minister explained that the initial R10,000 allocation allows entrepreneurs to test the market before scaling up their operations. A further financial package worth R100,000 includes R50,000 specifically for infrastructure-related expenses.
Ndabeni-Abrahams acknowledged the R500 million budget may not be sufficient given the size of the spaza shop industry, but emphasized the funding is meant “to intervene to assist those that are deserving and in need.”
The registration drive aims to ensure compliance with food safety standards and rebuild more competitive businesses in townships. Non-compliant shops that have applied for registration will receive non-financial support over the next six months to help them meet requirements.
In Gauteng province, officials reported 17,617 registration applications from spaza shops and food-handling facilities, including 7,107 from foreign nationals. Johannesburg recorded the highest number of registrations, while Ekurhuleni had the most applications from foreign nationals at 2,543.
Provincial authorities have issued 4,610 certificates of acceptability confirming compliance with food safety regulations, with 128 issued to foreign nationals. Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Development Lebogang Maile revealed that 15,478 facilities were deemed non-compliant, with 498 closed with immediate effect.
The government plans to implement a multi-disciplinary outreach program to bring services closer to communities and disseminate information on support offerings for small businesses.
