Lentswe, Klerksdorp - The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development, Masefako Dikgale, has called on all township and rural spaza shop owners to take advantage of the R500 million Spaza Shop Support Fund.
The fund was officially launched by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, and the Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni. The two ministers said that the Fund will be administered jointly by the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and the Department of Small Business Development’s new entity called the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency (SEDFA), and that it covers various types of support, including purchasing of stock, upgrading building infrastructure, shelving and refrigeration, among others.
The chairperson advised spaza shop owners who are interested in applying for the fund to visit their nearest offices of the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) for assistance.
“Those offices may still bear the SEDA signage, but, in reality, they now belong to a new entity called SEDFA, which was established through a merger of SEDA, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) and the Co-operative Banks Development Agency (CBDA) after the signing of the National Small Enterprise Amendment Act 21 of 2024 into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in June last year,” she said.
She added that spaza shops constitute a multi-billion sector which requires mainstreaming into the country’s economy to stimulate growth and development, job creation and poverty eradication.
Lastly, she added that the committee will find time to invite Minister Ndabeni to brief the committee on progress regarding the disbursement of the fund, and will also visit the beneficiaries as part of its oversight programme aimed at following the money.
