How to register your spaza shop

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NATIONAL NEWS AND VIDEO - With the clock ticking for rural and township spaza owners and vendors to register their businesses, government has provided a guide for entrepreneurs on how to approach the process of applying for a traders' permit.

President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered that all spaza shops and food-handling facilities register with their respective municipalities.

The registration drive is part of measures to address the recurring foodborne illnesses that have claimed the lives of at least 22 people, mostly children, across the country.

The interventions are aimed at getting hazardous pesticides off the street.

Ramaphosa ordered that all spaza shops and food-handling facilities register with their respective municipalities within 21 days.

Guidelines

• Registration for trading permits for spaza shop owners and vendors is done in municipality offices or designated sites that the municipalities will communicate to residents.

• All spaza shop owners and vendors must register with their respective municipalities before 14 December.

• Application forms for registration or permits can be obtained from the municipal offices or on the municipality website.

• The completed application form is to be received only by the municipal manager or a delegated official within a municipality.

• The application should contain the business owner's:

- full name, surname, gender, and disability status;
- the identity number of the business owner;
- the physical and postal address of the business concerned;
- location where the business will be operated;
- the description of the goods or services that the business will be selling;
- the citizenship status of the applicants; and
- the passport number, section 22 asylum seeker permit, section 24 refugee permit and a valid visa allowing foreign nationals to be in the republic to work or conduct business.

• The applicant must provide an affidavit stating that he/she is not engaged in the trade of illegal goods, as defined in this by-law and that his/her business will operate according to the applicable norms and standards.

• The municipality may conduct background checks on applicants, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, to verify the legality of their business activities.

• After the application has satisfied all the conditions stated by the municipality, the business owner will be issued a registration card or permit that must be always displayed and be available for inspection.

Reporting illegal business practices

Municipalities are expected to communicate to residents a complaints procedure that can be used by residents and community members to report illegal business practices by the business establishment
This complaints procedure will also include details about the appeals process for the application process.

According to the Immigration Act of 2002, it is a criminal offense to assist or enable an illegal foreigner to conduct any business in the country.

It is also a criminal offense to assist an illegal foreigner to obtain a licence for him/her to conduct any business.