Over 30,000 Foreign Nationals Apply For Spaza Shop Registration In Sa

More than 30,000 foreign nationals have applied to register their spaza shops in South Africa since July 2024, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has revealed.

However, only 2,586 of their applications have been approved, Hlabisa said in a reply to a parliamentary question published last week.

African Transformation Movement leader Vuyo Zungula had asked for the demographics of spaza shop registrations according to, among others, nationality and/or citizenship.

The Minister provided data provided by municipalities across the country as of 31 January 2025.

Municipalities indicated that they had received 82,924 applications to register spaza shops since 1 July 2024. Of these, 30,617 were from owners who were foreign nationals.

In the same period, municipalities approved 15,528 applications, of which 2,586 were from foreign nationals.

KwaZulu-Natal KZN had the highest number of applications 19,166, followed by Gauteng 15,216 and North West 9,996.

KZN also had the highest number of applications from foreign nationals 7,836, with Free State 5,528 and Gauteng 4,933 following closely.

Eastern Cape led with the number of approved foreigner-owned applications 1,119, followed by Western Cape 668 and KZN 579.

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, Hlabisa said.