SIFISO SKENJANA: Spaza shops are under threat as retail Goliaths muscle in
These township stores offer a valuable service and steps need to be taken to ensure their survival
24 September 2019 - 18:34
The spaza shop has long been an identifying feature of the township retail economy. Lately they have been coming under increasing competitive pressure, first from retail chains opening large-format stores in the townships and then from foreign-owned spaza shops.
In Cape Town, a Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation report on formalising informal micro enterprises found that 56% of spaza shops were owned and run by South Africans and 46% run by foreign nationals, of whom 80% were Somali...
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