Over 49k spaza shops, food handling stores applied to be registered on govt's database - Hlabisa

JOHANNESBURG - More than 49,000 spaza shops and food handling stores across the country have applied to be registered on government’s database.  

However, Minister of Cooperative Governance Velenkosini Hlabisa said only 19,000 of these applications had been approved.  

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The minister briefed the media on Wednesday morning, where he announced an extension to the registration period.  

Over the past three weeks, spaza shop owners have been registering their businesses as part of government’s efforts to regulate the sector.  

While spaza shops now have until the end of February 2025 to complete their registrations, Hlabisa said a significant number of spaza shop owners had opted not to register their stores.  

"Those who have registered their businesses still need to undertake further processes to obtain their trading licences. For this process, the environmental health practitioners and other regulatory authorities will still inspect owners of registered food-related trading businesses to ensure that their businesses are eligible to trade."