Deadline looms for registration of spaza shops

By Johnathan Paoli

The owners of small businesses, spaza shops and other food handling convenient stores have been reminded that they need to register their businesses by Tuesday, 17 December 2024.

This directive follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s mandate requiring all spaza shops and food-handling facilities to register with their respective municipalities within 21 days.

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) said on Friday that businesses missing the registration window must cease operations and shut down immediately.

“The process of registration that is being undertaken does not include the whole process of licensing of a business, which is the application, review, approval and the issuance of the licence or a permit to trade.”

Explaining the process, it said applicants would receive an acknowledgement of receipt of their application, which would be followed by a process of verification and inspection by relevant units to including environmental health and the National