City of Cape Town continues inspections to ensure spaza shops are compliant
According to the city, more than 6,000 applications for spaza shop certificates of acceptability have been received so far.
Garden Route District Municipality officials inspect goods at a spaza shop. Picture: Gardenroute.gov.za
CAPE TOWN - The City of Cape Town said the inspection of spaza shops to ensure compliance has been ongoing long before President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed concerns over illegal traders in November.
According to the city, more than 6,000 applications for spaza shop certificates of acceptability have been received so far.
This followed the deaths of more than 20 children from food-borne illnesses traced from snacks bought at local spaza shops.
More than 800 food poisoning incidents were reported across all provinces.
The metro's MMC for Community Services and Health, Patricia van der Ross, encouraged the public to report shops where conditions pose a direct threat to public health.
"It is acknowledged that, without additional resources being made available, the actual processing and finalisation of applications will not be possible in such a short time frame. Where operators have applied via e-services, they will have received a case number as proof of application."
Spaza shop owners have been given until the end of February 2025 to ensure their businesses are compliant.