More than 30,000 spaza shop applications were from foreign nationals! The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) has released official data on spaza shop registrations across South Africa. The data, covering the period from July 2024 to January 2025, highlights a key trend—more than one-third (37%) of applications came from foreign nationals.
Background: Why Spaza Shops Had to Register
The mandatory registration of spaza shops was introduced in 2024 following a series of food poisoning incidents that resulted in public outcry. The goal was to regulate informal businesses, ensuring that only safe and approved food products were sold to consumers—particularly children, who were most affected by contaminated goods.
With the registration process completed in February 2025, Cogta’s latest report sheds light on the extent of compliance, the role of foreign-owned businesses, and approval trends across the country.
National Overview: Foreign Nationals Submit 37% of Applications
Cogta Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa provided the spaza shop registration statistics in response to a parliamentary question from African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyo Zungula.
Between July 2024 and January 2025, 82,924 applications were submitted nationwide. Of these, 30,617 (approximately 37%) came from foreign nationals.
When it comes to approvals, only 15,528 applications were accepted during this timeframe. Out of these, 2,586 approvals (about 17%) were granted to foreign nationals.
Provincial Breakdown: Which Provinces Had the Most Applications?
The data further reveals major variations between provinces in terms of the number of applications, foreign-owned businesses, and approval rates.
Top Three Provinces by Application Volume
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KwaZulu-Natal received 19,166 applications, the highest in the country.
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Gauteng followed closely with 15,216 applications.
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The Free State, despite being a smaller province, recorded 8,309 applications.
Foreign Nationals and Approvals by Province
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The Free State had the highest proportion of foreign national applications, with two-thirds (5,528) of the 8,309 applications coming from non-South African applicants.
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Limpopo recorded the highest approval rate—4,426 out of 5,707 applications were approved.
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In contrast, North West had one of the lowest approval rates, accepting only 197 applications from a pool of nearly 10,000 applicants.
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The Northern Cape reported no applications from foreign nationals at all.
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Limpopo had the lowest percentage of foreign national applications, with less than 9% of submissions coming from foreign nationals.
Challenges in Data Collection and Accuracy
Minister Hlabisa acknowledged several challenges in gathering complete demographic data.
He explained that many municipalities still rely on manual registration systems, which makes tracking and verifying data more difficult.
“The Department does not have a record of these statistics as many municipalities utilise manual registration systems. Therefore, confirming these statistics will require time given the number of applications that have been received.”
This suggests that the true figures could be higher than those reported.
Gender Data Still Missing
A key aspect missing from the report is the gender breakdown of spaza shop owners.
Zungula had specifically requested a gender-based analysis, but Hlabisa stated that municipalities had not yet segmented this data. However, he assured that this information would be collected and reported in the future.
“Municipalities will be requested to segment the gender statistics and report this information to the Department.”
What’s Next?
With the spaza shop registration deadline officially ending in February 2025, Cogta will likely focus on enforcing regulations and monitoring compliance.
The role of foreign nationals in South Africa’s informal economy remains a hot topic, especially as debates continue over job creation, economic competition, and legal business operations.
For now, the registration data offers a clearer picture of who owns spaza shops in South Africa, and how different municipalities handle applications and approvals. Whether this data will be used to strengthen regulations or inform future policies remains to be seen.