{"id":93431,"date":"2024-11-20T11:50:02","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T09:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=93431"},"modified":"2024-11-21T10:23:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T08:23:51","slug":"entrepreneurs-institute-criticises-ramaphosas-directive-to-close-and-re-register-spaza-shops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/entrepreneurs-institute-criticises-ramaphosas-directive-to-close-and-re-register-spaza-shops\/","title":{"rendered":"Entrepreneurs\u2019 Institute criticises Ramaphosa\u2019s directive to close and re-register Spaza shops"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n20 November 2024 | 11:30 CAT
\n2 min read<\/p>\n

The Institute of Chartered Entrepreneurs (IoCE) has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s directive requiring all spaza shops to register within 21 days, calling it impractical and potentially harmful to the informal economy. The directive, aimed at addressing food safety following child poisoning deaths, risks financial losses and closures for thousands of small businesses, many of which operate with perishable stock and tight budgets.<\/p>\n

The IoCE highlighted the government’s failure to engage stakeholders like informal traders and community leaders, as well as the lack of clarity on compliance support. It warned that overstretched municipalities would struggle to implement the directive effectively.<\/p>\n

Public Interest SA\u2019s Tebogo Khaas criticised the president\u2019s plan, describing it as ill-conceived. He pointed to capacity issues within local authorities, stating: \u201cLocal authorities do not have the requisite manpower to make sure they can enforce good security regulations effectively. Why go this route?\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Khaas, the critical issue lies within the supply chain. He noted that even if spaza shops are re-registered and comply with health and safety regulations, informal traders might still supply expired goods. \u201cCompliance at the supply chain is where the government is missing the point,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Khaas further highlighted the impracticality of the directive, noting the government’s track record of slow processing. \u201cLicenses take a long time, but now, to ask tens of thousands of spaza shops to apply, you are just setting local authorities up for failure. If this was set up using a phased approach, maybe it could work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also warned that the directive could encourage corruption. \u201cIt cultivates the possibility of bribing; police themselves take advantage of non-complying businesses. It creates an opportunity for unscrupulous individuals,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The IoCE proposed alternative measures, including phased registration, education on food safety, and strengthening municipal resources. It urged the government to work with the informal sector to create a balanced plan that protects public health without destabilising livelihoods.<\/p>\n

Khaas asserts that the government must reconsider this \u201chastily announced directive\u201d and instead adopt a phased approach to implementing the re-registration of non-compliant spaza shops. He also emphasised the need to strengthen local municipalities to ensure they have the capacity to effectively implement any directives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask the president to prioritise public health and economic stability,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

LISTEN<\/strong> to the full interview with Ml Sulaimaan Ravat and Tebogo Khaas, chairperson of Public Interest SA, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za 20 November 2024 | 11:30 CAT 2 min read The Institute of Chartered Entrepreneurs (IoCE) has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s directive requiring all spaza shops to register within 21 days, calling it impractical and potentially harmful to the informal economy. The directive, aimed at addressing food safety following child poisoning deaths, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":93432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/spaza.jpeg?fit=2000%2C1334&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-oiX","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-21 14:24:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}