Immigrant Spaza Shop Owners Battle to Meet Registration Deadline in NMB

Spaza shops were given until 28 February to register with the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality.

• Owners of all food handling outlets were to have registered with their local municipalities by the end of February.
• President Cyril Ramaphosa announced this last year following the deaths of several people after eating food possibly bought from spaza shops.
• In Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, less than 18% of shop owners have met the deadline.
• Most shops are owned by immigrants and many of them are battling to register because of problems with documentation.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality says it will crack down on spaza shops and informal traders who missed the registration deadline of 28 February. But immigrant shop owners, who are the majority of the shop owners, say they battle to register because of problems with Home Affairs documents.

After several children died after eating food possibly bought from spaza shops, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on 15 November last year that all food handling outlets must register with their municipalities within 21 days. The deadline was extended in December to 28 February 2025.

Nelson Mandela Bay Mayco member for Public Health Thsonono Buyeye said out of 1,637 spaza shops in the metro, only 293 (less than 18%) had submitted correct applications by 28 February. “Whilst 1,136 applications were received, a staggering 843 (74%) were incomplete, rendering them invalid,” Buyeye said. “Applicants were informed of the deficiencies but failed to correct them in time.”

“We are extremely disappointed with the poor response. Since the President’s announcement and the deadline extension in December, we have gone all out to raise awareness, inspect shops, and guide owners on compliance. Now that the deadline has passed, we have no choice but to enforce the law,” said Buyeye.

But the chairman of the Zimbabwe Migrants Support Network, Chris Mapingure, said many immigrant business owners could not meet the deadline because they did not have the right documentation.

According to Buyeye, about 90% of the spaza shops in Nelson Mandela Bay are owned by immigrants.

Mapingure said most were refugees using asylum seeker permits and the Department of Home Affairs had not been renewing permits on time.

Some had appointments at the Refugees Reception Office, while others had gone to court to try to review their old permits. “Hence they could not meet the identification requirements as they are waiting for the papers.’”

The registration process involves meeting legal and health requirements including verification of immigration status by the Department of Home Affairs, inspection of premises for adherence to health and zoning regulations, proof of food safety and training for food handlers, pest control and fire safety certification, and payment of processing fees.

The South African Spaza-Shops Association said limited access to formal finance systems had also made it difficult for businesses to meet the requirements.

“Many informal businesses have struggled with complex registration requirements and bureaucratic delays, hindering their ability to meet the deadline. Limited access to formal financial systems has made it difficult for small business owners to expand and comply while issues such as crime, including robberies and vandalism, continue to affect business operators.”

A Somali spaza shop operator in Motherwell who did not want to be named said many immigrant shop owners had landlords who refused to provide proof of residence or other documents.

“Most landlords don’t want to present their title deeds or proof of ownership of the houses used as shops, fearing that the houses might be repossessed since they are not zoned for business operations. That was the hurdle I also faced.”

The spaza shops association has asked the government to introduce a phased approach by first allowing spaza shops to register with minimal initial requirements focusing on health and food safety compliance, to streamline the registration process and to adopt a more flexible approach.

“Study and adopt successful registration models from countries like India, Ghana and Peru, tailoring them to better serve the needs of our informal traders,” said the association in a statement.

We tried to get comment from Home Affairs but received no response.

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