The Sedibeng District Municipality in Gauteng will be the next stop in the national campaign to create awareness about the Spaza Shop Support Fund.

This as an interactive session is set to take place at the City Hall, in the Vereeniging Central Business District, on Friday.

This leg of the campaign will offer spaza shop owners and township-based convenience store operators critical information on how to apply for both financial and non-financial support under the R500-million fund that was launched by Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau and Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni in April.

The fund is aimed at increasing the participation of South African owned spaza shops in the townships and rural areas retail trade sector.

The national campaign, spearheaded by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) and the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD), follows successful engagements held in KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

At these events, township-based entrepreneurs gathered in large numbers to learn how they can access support from the fund.
The initiative is implemented in partnership with the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency (SEDFA) and the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) which are agencies of the DSBD and the dtic, respectively. These entities are responsible for administering the fund.

The campaign aims to bolster the township economy by supporting South African-owned spaza shops and other township convenience stores through:
•    Access to affordable stock via delivery channel partners,
•    Infrastructure upgrades including shelving, refrigeration and security, Point of Sale devices,
•    Training programmes covering business skills, digital literacy, compliance, credit health and food safety, and partnerships with local manufacturers, black industrialists and wholesalers to improve supply chain inclusion.

“These efforts are geared toward increasing the competitiveness of township businesses and ensuring they play a significant role in the broader retail sector.

“The campaign also promotes bulk buying and the use of locally produced goods, helping spaza shops lower operating costs while improving access to quality products,” the dtic and the DSBD said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

Friday’s session is expected to get underway at 9am. – SAnews.gov.za