The KZN Economic Development and Tourism Portfolio Committee has embarked on an outreach programme to assess the success of financial support for spaza shops.

The oversight follows the February 2024 launch of the Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) department’s Zimele Traders’ Fund, an initiative aimed at providing financial assistance to spaza shop owners across the province.

The portfolio committee is expected to visit several areas starting this week with those under Jozini Municipality.

Sites to be visited in Jozini include Amandlakagogo Retail Tuck Shop in Hlalanathi, Gugs Tuck Shop in the KwaJobe area and Shukushukuma Tuck Shop in Ward 21; all beneficiaries of the programme.

The initiative, carried out by the Ithala Development Finance Corporation, provided each spaza shop owner with a R20 000 grant in the form of trading stock.

Portfolio committee chairperson Mafika Mndebele said a total of R10m was allocated to this initiative, which aimed to reach 500 spaza shops across the province.

“We will visit spaza shops in Jozini, Mandeni, uMzumbe, uMdoni and eThekwini. As the organisation in charge of overseeing government agencies, we want to make sure public funds have not been squandered, and that spaza shops have benefited in any way,” said Mndebele.

Before the visits, Mndebele said his committee had chosen to use a Focused Intervention Study (FIS) to evaluate the spaza shop programme’s execution.

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