Orrin Singh19 November 2024 | 9:40

City of Joburg says registration of spaza shops has not yet begun

On Monday, dozens of foreign nationals were turned away from the Jabulani Civic Centre in Soweto, in what many thought was part of the spaza shop registration process. 

City of Joburg says registration of spaza shops has not yet begun

Spaza shop, shipping container store, Joe Slovo Park. Image: Wikimedia Commons

JOHANNESBURG - The City of Johannesburg says the registration of spaza shops has not yet started.

On Monday, dozens of foreign nationals were turned away from the Jabulani Civic Centre in Soweto, in what many thought was part of the spaza shop registration process.

This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaration that all spaza shops and food handling facilities must be registered in the municipalities they operate within 21 days as of Friday.

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“There was confusion yesterday [Monday] in Jabulani, people thought that registration was happening, however, there is no registration happening in Jabulani currently. The city is busy establishing various points that will be communicated to every stakeholder once everything is in place,” said the City of Joburg's spokesperson, Nthatisi Modingoane.

He said a workshop was being planned for Wednesday.

“There is going to be a workshop for officials to get them on par with the declaration so they understand what exactly needs to be done on the ground.”