Township businesses suffering due to malls
Spazas say wholesalers are not giving them discounts
Government has been blamed for the demise of locally-owned spaza shops in townships and rural areas.
A buying bloc organisation for spaza shops and general retailers said yesterday the government must be held responsible for the situation.
The SA Bulk Entrepreneur Primary Cooperative and First Wealth Coin Group made the claims to the Grocery Retail Market Inquiry in Pretoria yesterday. They claimed, among others, that: Municipal officials do not consult with local ● entrepreneurs before a mall housing big supermarkets is built;
The education departments dish out grocery ● and stationery tenders to external tenderpreneurs instead of local entrepreneurs already selling the products; and
Most of the shops owned by local African ● entrepreneurs were not afforded an opportunity to distribute social grants.
The organisation’s founder Nape Phakoago said the cooperative also provided employment opportunities to youth.
“We did well under the apartheid government. However, under the ANC government ... we realise that they don’t care about our businesses,” said Phakoago.
“My family used to own five shops, but now we own one shop and I had to retrench all of my 15 workers.”
Phakoago also lashed at wholesalers operating in townships and rural areas, alleging that discounts being enjoyed by foreign entrepreneurs and the Big Four retailers Pick n Pay, Massmart, Spar and Shoprite were not given to his organisation.
“The suppliers, such as Sasko, Unilever and Coke have in the past refused to give us discounts that (would make us competitive),” said Phakoago.
Oupa Rawane, the founder of buying group FWC that services 200 spaza shops, said local government officials were not consulting local entrepreneurs before approving plans to build malls.
He added wholesalers who sold directly to the public were also damaging township enterprises because of the lower prices.
He said this discount would fizzle out on transportation costs, rendering the township retailers unable to compete.
Owner of Rori’s Cakes and Bakery, Bogi Mabogoane, said big supermarkets were suffocating his business by selling bread at what it costs him to produce the product.