More than 18,000 spaza shops out of the roughly 81,000 registered across South Africa have so far been licensed to operate, while thousands of others are still awaiting approval from municipalities.
The slow pace of issuing operating licences has raised concern among small business owners, many of whom are unable to access funding, grants, or government support programmes without formal registration.
Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development, Masefako Dikgale, says municipalities are partly responsible for the delays.
During oversight visits, the committee discovered that some municipalities continue to process licence applications manually, which significantly slows down the approval process.
To address the problem, government is considering new legislation that would digitise the licensing system. The proposed bill would allow spaza shop owners to submit applications electronically rather than relying on paper-based processes.
If implemented, the changes could accelerate approvals and make it easier for small businesses to formalise their operations and gain access to financial support.
In the meantime, authorities say efforts are under way to clear the backlog of applications and improve processing times across the country.