Fake spaza shops licences for sale

Ekurhuleni metro has admitted that its registration of spaza shops has been thrown into disarray following the arrest of a man accused of selling fake compliance certificates for R2,500.  

Spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said the process has been tainted because the selling of the fake permits defeats the objective of what they are trying to achieve, which is to keep communities safe from food poisoning.  

The registration of spaza shop started on November 15 2024 after more than 20 children died from foodborne illnesses.  

President Cyril Ramaphosa directed all spaza shops and food-handling facilities to register with their respective municipalities as part of the decisive measures by the government to address the recurring foodborne illness.  

Owners have until February 28 to register their spaza shops.  

Dlamini said the man selling the certificates was arrested last week following a tip-off that he was operating from an internet cafe in Tsakane. He said they found a lot of compliance certificates on his computer. 

“We believe that he is the mastermind. He was producing fake certificates in bulk, selling them to buyers who would sell them to spaza shops. He admitted to having sold a few to spaza shops himself as well. This is why we have decided to investigate the entire municipality [and not only Tsakane where he was arrested].”

He said this was their biggest problem because it begins when people get the original copy of the certificate, and they start to create their own. However, they have identified a few spaza shops they believe to have fake certificates.  

“Next week we will start visiting those shops with fake certificates and there will be consequences. We will close the shops and will only open them when we find them to be complying. ”

According to African Accent spaza shop owner Bongani Mabuza, the government brought this on themselves due to the “tedious” registration process. He said people then decided to “free themselves” from this process by opting for fake certificates where the process is faster.

Mabuza also said there was no way of knowing if the people who are selling these certificates were not impersonating health inspectors by telling spaza shop owners they will fast-track the process and then sell them the certificates.

“They opened a can of worms: how do you know who is a health inspector [or not] now? These people can just print it at an internet cafe and give it to you. The process is tedious, and people want simplicity.  

“To curb this problem the government needs to come up with a simpler way because the idea is good but the implementation is horrible. They need to work with people who can assist them, local groups. It would have been much easier had they partnered with us spaza shop organisations because we deal with spaza shops [everyday],” Mabuza said.

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