A R500-million spaza shop support fund has been established by Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni to increase market competitiveness and enable spaza shops and food handling establishments to compete with bigger retailers.
In a Sunday media briefing in Pretoria, Ndabeni stated that the fund will be established shortly and will help township convenience stores, including spaza stores.
“The fund will be launched in the next two weeks, and a date will be communicated,” she said, adding that it will comprise funds from the department [R150-million] and the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition [R350-million].
The briefing took place after the deadline of February 28 for spaza shops and food-handling businesses to register with their local municipalities.
She said that current departmental programmes and funds, such as financial aid from the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency (SEDFA) and other development finance organisations, will continue to help other businesses.
Rollout of outreach programme
The fund aims to achieve economies of scale by linking spaza shops and food-handling outlets to buying groups for bulk purchasing; build business capacity through training and support to improve shop operations; and enhance market competitiveness to help spaza shops and food-handling outlets compete with larger retailers.
“We are planning to roll out a multi-disciplinary outreach programme,” Ndabeni said.
“The purpose of the outreach programme is to bring government services closer to the people through disseminating information on community convenience shops and support offerings.
“We will continue to do these things with provincial and local government and will facilitate awareness campaigns in all 52 districts and metros across the country. The awareness campaigns are scheduled to take place from March 3 to March 30.”
The awareness campaigns will continue beyond March, and the workshops will be facilitated by district champions, SEDFA, and business regulation officers.
She said her department has recruited 61 business regulation officers on six-month contracts, each assigned to a district or metro across the country.
“These officers will be responsible for conducting awareness campaigns, research, and geo-mapping of spaza shops and food-handling facilities, among other functions,” she said.
Red tape reduction programme
Ndabeni went on to say that the department has started a red tape reduction programme with realistic solutions in order to streamline South Africa’s regulatory environment.
“As a key strategic intervention to support the red tape reduction efforts, the department will ensure that municipalities are assisted with e-registration systems.
“We remain committed as government to streamline business licensing in South Africa, reduce regulatory burdens, and foster an environment conducive to entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation.
“Our amended national business licencing bill, once approved and implemented, will provide clarity, consistency, and transparency in business licensing, enabling businesses to thrive and contribute to the country’s economic growth and development.” – SAnews.gov.za
