File
The government has extended the deadline for spaza shops to register to 28 February 2025.
This was announced on Wednesday by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velinkosi Hlabisa, who said more work needs to be done to ensure that the sector is properly regulated and adheres to health regulations.
The government, in response to numerous deaths of children, reportedly due to food-borne illnesses after consuming snacks bought from spaza shops, imposed a deadline for all of them to register which expired on Tuesday.
Minister Hlabisa noted that the initial deadline was set to address the urgent need to ensure compliance with health and safety standards.
"Registration ensures that all spaza shops meet minimum standards, regardless of their past operations," he said.
However, in noting concerns raised by some stakeholders regarding the deadline, he said the municipal processes of adopting and adapting the by-laws as gazetted on 7 November are highly regulated and need a lot of consultation to complete.
Minister Hlabisa said that a lot of work was also done over the 21 days of registration period,
"In consultation with the President, therefore, the government has resolved to extend the registration deadline for all spaza shops and other food-handling outlets to 28 February 2025.
"Prior to the revised deadline of 28 February 2025, the government in all its spheres will continue to implement the action plan to address the crisis of foodborne illnesses and the illicit trade of goods across the country," the Minister said.
Hlabisa said that during this period, the multidisciplinary team dealing with this outbreak learnt valuable lessons in a short space of time, especially regarding the need for strengthened enforcement of regulation of spaza shops and other small food handling outlets.
"We want to emphasise that registration alone does not mean a business is eligible to trade. To obtain a licence or a permit to trade, business owners must comply with all health regulations and municipal by-laws related to conducting a business," the Cogta Minister said.
