Foreign spaza shop owners dominate Limpopo registrations
Foreign spaza shop owners are surpassing local registrations and sparking concerns about economic empowerment.
LIMPOPO – In Limpopo, foreign spaza shop owners are leading the way in registering their businesses, surpassing local residents in this regard.
The Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) reported a low turnout of South Africans at local municipalities for business registration.
LEDET spokesperson Zaid Kalla said that the Vhembe district received over 586 applications and the Capricorn district received over 300 applications, with the majority of applicants being foreigners. Statistics for the Mopani and Waterberg districts were not available at the time of print.
“The department would prefer to see a larger influx of locals at municipalities successfully registering spaza shops and administering such businesses on their own. Part of rebuilding our economy requires us to reclaim it and place it in the right hands,” said Kalla.
Meanwhile, Freddy Ramallo, senior manager at the Greater Tzaneen Municipality’s Local Economy Department (LED), said that locals are dominating the registration process, although he did not provide specific numbers.
Ramallo explained that the registration process begins with business owners providing valid documents proving ownership at the LED department. Upon verification of these documents, the environmental department conducts an inspection of the business.
“The inspectors will check if the food stuff is consumable, if the place is clean, check for rodents, the windows for airflow, and other factors. They will also check if the spaza is zoned correctly and in a suitable place. For example, a residential garage is not authorised to run a spaza business, and in such a case, the owner must return to the municipality to apply for a rezoning certificate,” he said.
Ramallo also noted that a political asylum seeker is not allowed to own a business in the country unless he or she is investing R5 million.
He mentioned that foreigners may have an agreement with a local spaza shop owner, but they must have the right documents to prove the agreement and validate their use of the local person’s business.
