Spaza shop and food business owners have a short window of time remaining to register with their municipalities or risk legal repercussions.
The new registration must be completed by February 28.
Spaza shop owners were instructed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in November to register their establishments if they still wished to sell to the general public.
The purpose of this registration is to regulate the sector.
At the time, Ramaphosa stated that 890 cases of foodborne illnesses had been reported in all nine provinces since September 2024.
The most affected provinces were KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, although dozens of incidents were also reported in the Free State, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo.
Ramaphosa said at the time that after being asked to conduct scientific testing, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases concluded that Terbufos, a highly hazardous pesticide, was directly to blame for the deaths of the six children in Naledi, Soweto.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa announced an extension of the registration deadline for spaza shops and other food handling outlets to February.
Government to continue implementing action plan
The extension followed the conclusion of the first 21-day registration period on December 17, 2024.
Out of the 42 915 applications that were received, 19 385 have been approved, according to Cogta.
“Before the revised deadline of 28 February 2025, the government in all its spheres will continue to implement the action plan to address the crisis of food-borne illnesses and the illicit trade of goods across the country,” Hlabisa told the media after the deadline extension.
Hlabisa emphasised the significance of adhering to health regulations, pointing out that 1 041 stores that did not comply had been shut down.
He added that individuals who have registered their businesses and been acknowledged as registered still needed to go through an additional procedure in order to get their trading licences.
“For this process, 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.”
