MIDDELBURG – Steve Tshwete Executive Mayor Cllr. Bagudi Tolo has urged citizens willing to operate spazashops (tuckshops) to take advantage of the opportunity government presented with the issuing of permits to operate spazashops and small businesses.
“This situation will allow our own South Africans to operate their own tuckshops that will go a long way in promoting what we call township economy which will also address the issue of unemployment,” Tolo briefed the media on Sunday.
The Department of Small Business Development has requested municipalities to submit databases of spazashops and informal traders/hawkers operating in their respective jurisdictions following a pronouncement by the Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni to access the relief funding scheme during the Covid-19 lockdown.
“This will allow some of these people who have hired permits out to foreigners to operate tuckshops to go back to operate these tuckshops,” Tolo said. “Our people can actually have a better livelihoods operating these tuckshops than giving them to foreigners,” he said. Tolo further said that while he had admitted not everybody will be able to operate tuckshops, he will not allow a situation where permits are used illegally.
“We commit to ensure that we clean the situation. We have law enforcement officers to make sure our bylaws are implemented,” he said. The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga has also welcomed the new regulations saying it presents government with an opportunity to correct what they’ve been unable to deal with from the start.
“Now they can monitor this by issuing or denying permits for a spazashop to remain open. I see this as an opportunity for government to ensure they manage the spazashops properly, do an assessment before they issue the permit to stop the mushrooming of tuckshops everywhere,” DA leader Jane Sithole said.
The circular the department released initially allowed municipalities to submit the databases on or before 6 April 2020. Since the lockdown has been extended it is unclear if people should still continue to apply. “There is no confirmation of a new date at this. We are working directly with municipalities with regards to how fast to collect the database,” said Mxolisi Mchunu of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA).
