Parliament, Thursday, 22 May 2025 – The Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development has issued a call to all South Africans who own registered spaza shop and food-handling businesses to apply for funding from the R500 million Spaza Shop Support Fund under the Department of Small Business Development.
The committee made this call after a briefing from the department on the disbursement of the fund on Wednesday, whereby it learned that only 387 out of 3 269 applications have been successfully processed since the fund was launched in April this year.
The department said that although the processing of applications is ongoing, most unsuccessful applications were due to non-compliance with the requirements, primarily proof that the business is registered with in the business owner’s municipality.
The Chairperson of the committee, Ms Masefako Dikgale, said although the fund is relatively new, the committee expected the number of applications to be much higher than the figure reported by the department.
Fund recipients are able to use the grant for business refurbishments, wholesale aggregation and non-financial support, such as skills training, regulatory compliance and capacity building.
“We expected our people from townships and villages throughout the country to take advantage of this fund to uplift their businesses and create jobs. Funds of this nature are there to make a real impact in the lives of small business owners who have a collective duty to help government grow the economy,” said Ms Dikgale.
Nonetheless, the committee welcomed the news that the department is embarking on a nationwide roadshow to explain the application process and documents required when applying for funding.
The committee understands from the oversight visits conducted that most spaza shop and food-handling business owners face serious challenges with limited access to capital, high operating costs and lack of bulk purchasing options, which have the benefit of optimising revenue and cost reduction.
Ms Dikgale said that the committee will continue to monitor the implementation of the fund to ensure it achieves the desired objectives. “The issue of spaza shops is very serious. It has the potential to uplift our people from poverty and creating employment in the villages and townships. We want to see our spaza shops growing from this funding to become self-sustainable,” she said.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, MS MASEFAKO DIKGALE.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Mr Justice Molafo
Cell: 081 424 7481
Email: jmolafo@parliament.gov.za
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