The government’s decision that all spaza shops be registered with their local municipality within 21 days is potentially disastrous for small business and the distribution of food to poor communities, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry says.
The decision to enforce registration was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the wake of food poisonings that resulted in the deaths of at least 22 children.
“Any shop not registered within 21 days and that does not meet all health standards will be closed,” Ramaphosa said last Friday.
The chamber’s views echo those of National Informal Traders Alliance president Rosheda Muller, who said the 21-day registration deadline was “impossible”. She told TimesLIVE that municipalities did not have enough capacity to register all spaza shops within such a short period.
The chamber’s president, Jacques Moolman, said the crackdown against spaza shops was “a knee-jerk reaction to the tragic, fatal poisoning incidents”.
‘Collective punishment’
“Rather than targeting the criminals responsible for peddling illegal pesticides linked to these incidents, government would dish out collective punishment to an entire economic sector that supports a large proportion of households in underprivileged areas,” he said.
Moolman said the requirement for registration was completely unrealistic because it could not be enforced. Struggling municipalities and law enforcement agencies were already failing to fulfil their service mandate due to budget and capacity challenges.
“It is implausible for these under-resourced state entities to ensure tax compliance and the provision of the necessary company documents and food safety certificates — as per the new spaza shop requirements.
“It is also implausible to expect the many thousands of spaza shops, the vast majority of them run by law-abiding traders with staff and dependents, to now comply with multiple layers of regulation in just three weeks time,” Moolman said.
“Such a move is tantamount to criminalising an entire vital sector of our economy, and evokes memories of the similarly ill-advised crackdown against noncompliant taxis that ultimately proved hugely damaging.”
Moolman said constructive dialogue was a better option as opposed to strong-arm tactics. Action should rather be taken against those directly responsible for food safety hazards.
“The spaza shop crackdown is a disaster waiting to happen. Government would arrest hard-working business owners while in many areas gangsters and drug dealers go free. Current food safety concerns should not overshadow the enormous contribution spaza shops make to the economy. Townships are run on informal food businesses everywhere.
“Big business is likely to be the main beneficiary of the government’s ill-advised spaza shop action plan,” Moolman said.
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