Durban: The eThekwini Municipality has received more than 2 500 new registration applications from spaza shop owners ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, following the recent rise in foodborne illnesses allegedly linked to products sold at these stores.

The City of Cape Town said it had received 4 000 applications for Certificates of Acceptability (COA) while Gauteng received 13 000 applications for spaza shop registrations.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that all spaza shops and other food handling facilities must be registered in the municipalities in which they operate within 21 days and that any shop that is not registered within the period and does not meet all health standards and requirements will be closed.

The registration drive was prompted by the recurring illnesses linked to pesticides (including the highly hazardous chemical Terbufos) with more than 800 reported incidents that have claimed the lives of at least 22 children across the country.

There was confusion around the deadline, which was initially thought to be today but Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa said weekends and public holidays were not included and the actual deadline for spaza shop registrations is Tuesday, December 17.

EThekwini’s communications manager Mduduzi Ncalane said the City had 4 700 spaza shops that had been issued permits or licences to operate in various areas prior to Ramaphosa’s announcement.

The spaza shop industry contributes around R55 billion to the metro’s GDP.

“Since President Ramaphosa announced measures on November 15 to regulate spaza shop operations following incidents of food poisoning, over 2 500 spaza shop owners have applied for registration.

“All applications are being vetted by relevant departments, including the Department of Home Affairs. The vetting process includes a thorough review, site inspections, and enforcement actions for non-compliant cases.”

He said approved applications will be added to the existing database of 4 700 compliant spaza shops.

Ncalane said the municipality’s Business Licensing Department had conducted blitz registration campaigns in areas including KwaMashu, Newlands East, eManzimtoti, Pinetown and Hammarsdale.

“These workshops include presentations by departments such as Environmental Health, Metro Police, Fire and Emergency Services, and the Department of Home Affairs.”

Ncalane said issues of non-compliance included individuals that attempted to register permanent structures on properties they do not own and spaza shop owners who tried to register structures that are not suitable to sell food and groceries.

“Some spaza shop owners have attempted to register unsuitable structures. The Business Licensing Department, along with relevant units such as Town Planning, Building Inspectorate, Environmental Health, and Fire and Emergency Services conduct site inspections to assess suitability for food establishments,” Ncalane said.

Once the registration process is completed, the government will assess whether applicants meet all the requirements and those who fail to meet the criteria will not be able to register their businesses.

Earlier this week, mayor Cyril Xaba said that the database of successfully registered spaza shops, including existing ones, would be available on the eThekwini Municipality website for transparency.

He said that the City has been working to transform township and rural spaza shops into commercially viable enterprises and that several initiatives had been designed to empower spaza shop owners on the database.

“From the database, over 347 tuckshop owners have been trained and equipped with point-of-sale devices, enabling smoother operations and facilitating connections with banks and wholesalers.

“Through collaborations with the provincial Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Small Business Development, the municipality has secured grants and micro-loans for spaza owners,” he said in a statement.

Political analyst Thabani Khumalo said both national and local governments were to blame for the crisis.

“There needs to be better monitoring of these food items that are coming into the country and the pesticides that are being sold.

“Local government is dysfunctional in the country and these monitoring systems should have already been in place.”

He said there was a need for continuous monitoring and evaluation of the sector to ensure that standards were maintained and not flouted once the current crisis has passed.

It was reported on Thursday by The Mercury’s sister newspaper, The Star, that of the 13 000 applications for spaza shop registrations received in Gauteng, over 2 000 applications were from foreigners.

The Cape Times reported that the City of Cape Town said it received over 4 000 applications since November 18 and its Environmental Health Practitioners also conducted 1 175 inspections between November 1 and December 6, and over 700 premises were found to be non-compliant.

THE MERCURY