Gauteng province has received over 21,000 applications for spaza shops registration, with nearly 3,000 coming from foreign nationals, according to the provincial Finance and Economic Development MEC Lebogang Maile.

Maila made the remarks during a media briefing in Johannesburg, on Monday offering an update on the progress of spaza shop registrations in Gauteng.

Maile said the number of applications rose from 13, 616, ten days ago to more than 7,000, now totalling 21,172.

“Of this number, 10,389 application forms have been submitted across all municipalities in Gauteng,” Maile said.

He added that the number of applications that had been returned due to missing documentation has risen from 1,916 to 2,677.

“Since then, the number of applications received has increased, leading to a corresponding increase in the number of returned applications.”

Maile pointed out that these increases were also emanating from foreign nationals, which now stands at 2,818, which is an increase of 213 in the last update.

“This indicates that more spaza shops are complying with the President's (Cyril Ramaphosa) directive, a positive sign that the program and interventions that have been instituted by the Gauteng provincial government are working,” he said

Maile addressed previous various challenges endured by the spaza shop owners, especially concerning to approvals by local municipalities.

He said progress has been made, citing the City of Ekurhuleni, which he said had issued 23 business licenses to tuck shop owners.

“Approval of land use applications have also been expedited, with 93 of these applications approved in the City of Johannesburg alone,” Maile said.

“In the same municipality, 617 certificates of acceptance have been issued.”

He said a reconciled figure for all municipalities will be provided in due course.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Velenkosini Hlabisa announced on December 18, that the registration process for spaza shops and other food-handling outlets has been extended to the end of February 2025.

This comes after the 21-day deadline for owners of spaza shops operating across South Africa to register their businesses, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa has expired, with thousands of small businesses still being unregistered.

IOL Politics