THE South African government has received nearly 90 000 applications from owners to register their spaza shops.

The Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni, announced on 9 April 2025 that the government is willing to assist South African-owned spaza shops and at the same time launched a R500 million Spaza Shop Support Fund (SSSF.

Registered spaza shops will get help

With the recent drive to have spaza shops registered, the government has received 87 407 applications and of these, a total 53% is from South African-owned spaza shops.

“Our commitment with this fund is to support those who heeded the President’s call to register their spaza shops. As the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD), we can help you when you have an idea and want to start a business.

“We have incubators that help new and startup businesses. We can help you from being an informal trader to a formal trader, to start a spaza shop and to own a wholesale or an entire distribution channel. We will be working with you to help you to turn things around,” said Ndabeni.

The fund will be rolled out nationally to impact spaza shops across all major townships, as well as rural areas.

To access the funding, applicants need to apply to the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency (SEFDA) through the prescribed application process outlined on the relevant institution’s website.

The following website can be used to apply for funding: www.spazashopfund.co.za 
The contact details for the Spaza Shop Support Fund call centre are 01 1 305 8080 or via email: Spazafund@nefcorp.co.za.

Contact details for the NEF call centre are 0861 843633, SEDFA call centre 012 748 9600 or an email can be sent to helpline@sefa.org.za. Source: SAnews.gov.za