The Gauteng government says businesses that miss the registration period will be shut down. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Operators of spaza shops and other food handling establishments were scrambling to meet a Tuesday deadline set by President Cyril Ramaphosa following the deaths of several children who ate contaminated items. As a result, there is a lack of information regarding business registration, leading to delays.
Crowds of people waited in line at Soweto's Jabulani Civic Center on Tuesday morning to register their businesses with the municipality, as President Ramaphosa ordered on November 15 to comply with food safety regulations. It was the last day.
Salomendaba Mofokeng, who has run a spaza shop in the area for 24 years, said: email and guardian She went to City Hall several times, but each time was told she didn't have the proper documents to attach.
“I came on Friday with all my documents because they checked everything. I only have one certificate left that I need to reapply for. I only have one certificate, but I have to wait in line again. We are told we need to,” said a frustrated Mofokeng.
Other women in the food business in the area also lamented the lack of information from authorities.
“It's even unfair because the security guards don't tell you to bring one, two, three or four when you come back. They say you only have to bring your ID. But now I find out that I have to bring other documents as well, and I don't have them all,” said a woman on condition of anonymity, asking for an extension to register. . deadline.
“We're already expected to fail because we're leaving this place. And it's exhausting,” said another woman.
Documents required when submitting a food business application may include address and address. A description of the product or service that the business sells or provides to the community. Applicant's citizenship status and passport number, alien permit or valid visa.
Applicants must also submit an affidavit stating that they do not sell illegal products and operate their business in accordance with applicable norms and standards.
Mr Mofokeng, who was waiting in another line almost two hours later to submit his certificate, said he planned to leave if he was unable to complete the document on Tuesday.
“If things don’t go well today, I will keep all the documents and work in my shop. If you come, I will tell you that I took the initiative to come. [re-register]” she said.
“Every day the president said we had to do this, I've been trying. I've been running up and down. Now I don't have any money. We closed the store. We're not open. We're trying to fix this. There's no money coming in, but there's money going out.”
The Gauteng government announced at a press conference last week that as of December 10, registration forms had been issued to 13,616 spaza shops. Of these, 1,916 applications were returned and 2,605 applications were submitted by non-South African spaza shop owners. Approximately 541 spaza stores were closed due to legal violations.
The state government said businesses that miss the registration deadline will be shut down.
Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Belenkosi Hlavisa will provide an update on the re-registration of companies on Wednesday, the spokesperson said.
