Closure of spaza shops would lead to more poverty: Thuli Madonsela

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela has opposed ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula's proposal to shut down and reregister all spaza shops in South Africa.

Mbalula's call for their closure follows several incidents of children falling ill and dying from suspected food poisoning. 

“As the ANC we call on our government to lead the regulation of the spaza shop environment and ensure that all spaza shops close down and register afresh to ensure that we've got the right people serving our communities,” Mbalula said on Thursday during a press briefing.

Madonsela believes closing spaza shops would have devastating consequences for local businesses. She argued that if these shops were forced to close, consumers would likely turn to supermarkets, making it challenging for spaza shops to regain their customer base.

“The closure will mean customers shift to big business and by the time the spazas reopen, new customer habits would have set in as happened with Covid-19,” she said.

“Such would exacerbate poverty and inequality and redirect township financial flows to big capital as was the unintended consequence of Covid-19 regulations.”

Mbalula's proposal aims to address the issue of illegal immigration in South Africa, but Madonsela suggests inspections would be a more effective approach.

“I support the inspection of spaza shops and closing down delinquent ones that are selling fake and contaminated goods. What would be ill-advised (as it would exacerbate poverty, hunger and inequality) is an arbitrary closure of all spaza shops followed by re-registration and reopening. That would not only constitute an administrative law violation as an act of unjust administrative action), but it would also skew commercial gains against the already deprived township ecosystems, thus exacerbating poverty, hunger and inequality.

TimesLIVE