Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape – Hundreds of landlords in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality were taken aback on Thursday after learning they must pay R2,207 to apply for a permit to rent out properties for use as “spaza shops.”
The meeting, held at Babs Madlakane Hall in KwaNobuhle, Kariega, was attended by landlords and immigrant spaza shop owners from Pakistan, Somalia, and Ethiopia. The gathering was organized by the South African Police Service (SAPS), the community policing forum, and a group of local pastors from the Spiritual Crime Prevention (SCP) office, which is based at the police station.
Mthulisi Msimanga, the director of land and planning for the municipality, informed the attendees that no business, including spaza shops, could operate without prior approval from the municipality. “You’re not allowed to run a business before our approval,” Msimanga stated, adding that the application assessment process could take between 14 and 30 days. Landlords were told they must visit the land planning offices at the Lillian Diedricks Building in Govan Mbeki Avenue in Gqeberha, with applications open only to property owners, not spaza shop operators.
“These policies were made by the councillors, and we must implement them,” Msimanga explained.
Aretha Plata, from the public health directorate, added that spaza shop owners must also pay R796 for a business licence. She outlined several regulatory requirements, including obtaining consent from the municipality’s town planning office, securing waste removal services through a registered provider, and ensuring pest control to prevent contamination in food stores. Additionally, Plata emphasized the importance of food safety training and proper labeling of products, warning that decanting, or repackaging, of goods would not be allowed.
Apostle Nceba Jantjies, of the SCP, expressed frustration over the municipality’s long-standing failure to address the issues surrounding foreign nationals running spaza shops, noting that many elderly landlords have been renting out properties to foreign nationals for over 15 years. “The municipality failed long ago to address this situation,” Jantjies said, adding that the large turnout indicated that foreign nationals were eager to comply with the new regulations.
However, some landlords, like Mnyamezeli Luphondwana, raised concerns about the impact of these regulations. Luphondwana expressed worry that converting their rental properties into business premises could jeopardize their access to social grants.
As the meeting came to a close, tension rose as shop owners crowded around municipal officials to collect application forms, pushing and shoving in the process.