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Gauteng Finance MEC Lebogang Maile checks the expiry date of a product during an inspection.
Gauteng Finance MEC, Lebogang Maile, says the non-compliance of spaza shops in the province remains a major concern. He addressed the media in Sandton earlier on the progress of spaza shop registrations.
The high level of non-compliance has led to the closures of 296 spaza shops across the province, with Johannesburg having the highest number of closures.
Maile says local government will continue to conduct inspections and shutdown non-compliant shops.
“As of today, 7,802 inspections have been conducted in the City of Johannesburg, with 1,444 of the spaza shops and food handling facilities being found non-compliant. In the City of Tshwane, a total of 5,851 inspections have been conducted with 1,905 being found non-compliant. In the City of Ekurhuleni 9,433 inspections have been conducted with 8,848 being found non-compliant,” says Maile.
VIDEO | Maile some municipalities are yet to develop an electronic licensing system:
UPDATE ON THE REGISTRATION OF SPAZA SHOPS AND FOOD-HANDLING FACILITIES
Joint plans by municipalities and digitisation of the application process
Various municipalities across the Gauteng Province have developed an online portal registration system to ease the process of… pic.twitter.com/rGjj3Pzbkn
— Lebogang Maile (@LebogangMaile1) February 2, 2025
Training interventions
As of today, 7148 spaza shops and food-handling facilities in Gauteng have been reached by training interventions. The training of informal food traders is a requirement of Regulation 638. Thus far, 372 training interventions have been undertaken.…
— Lebogang Maile (@LebogangMaile1) February 2, 2025
Maile says none of the over 1,260 spaza shop applications received from foreign nationals in the Sedibeng region in Gauteng have been approved.
He says this is due to non-compliance by foreign nationals relating to the submission of fraudulent documentation.
Maile reiterated that illegal immigrants would not be allowed to conduct business in the country.
“In the Sedibeng District Municipality – which comprises of the Mid-Vaal, Emfuleni, and Lesedi local municipalities – 2,688 applications have been received, with 1,260 of these being from foreign nationals. A total of 28 applications have been approved with none of these being of spaza shops and food handling facilities owned by foreign nationals. To date, 27 COA’s (Certificate of Acceptability) have been issued by the municipality,” says Maile.
