Hundreds of Soweto spaza shop owners scramble to meet registration deadline

JOHANNESBURG - Hundreds of Soweto residents are scrambling as the deadline to have their spaza shops registered, ends at the close of business on Friday.

In 2024, the government cracked down on spaza shops, instituting strict measures which needed to be adhered to, failing which they could not operate.

This followed the deaths of at least 21 children across the country, who died after allegedly consuming snacks purchased from spaza shops.

Despite knowing they had to register their spaza shops five months ago, some Soweto residents were left scrambling on Friday to meet the deadline.

Residents rushed to the Jabulani Civic Centre in Soweto hoping to finalise the registration process.

Nonkululeko Mpendu said she wasn’t aware that she was required to pay a fee to have her spaza shop registered.

“I know that it’s been going for months but I only came today, thinking that I’m going to do this and finish today. Little did I know that I’ve got to bring this money and that I’ve got to bring all these things.”

Mohammed Neo, who owns a spaza shop in Dobsonville, said there is no way he will manage to register his spaza shop on Friday.

“Zoning certificate, you have to get it from your local municipality but from Dobsonville civic centre you can’t get that so they sent us here to get that. It’s a challenge with a lot of things.”

Government has reiterated that there will not be any further extensions for the registration of spaza shops.