By Johannah Malogadihlare
There are still no regulations in place to govern businesses in Gauteng townships as set out in the Township Economic Development Act (Teda), according to the Democratic Alliance.
This information was revealed in a reply to questions from the party to the Gauteng economic development department.
It said that if the regulations had been published, it would have been much easier to ensure what goods spaza shops were selling in the townships, particularly perishables.
There has been a rise in food poisoning incidents amongst children in the province’s townships following them buying food from spaza shops.
The City of Johannesburg announced on Tuesday a phased approach to shut down illegal spaza shops across the metro.
DA economic development spokesperson Nazley Sharif said on Wednesday that the
department must gazette regulations for small businesses.
“This is worrying, as the Teda is meant to provide a regulatory framework for how businesses trade in the townships and help township businesses supply goods and services to the government,” Sharif said in a statement.
“Instead of populist rhetoric that will not help the township economy, MEC Lebogang Maile should produce the regulations that were meant to be published alongside the Teda. This is the first step in ensuring that all businesses operating in the township are operating within the confines of the law.”
The Act was passed two years ago. The department has identified 45 township enterprise zones, but because they had not been gazetted, they were yet to be formalised.
On Sunday, Maile announced the establishment of a multi-disciplinary task team to crack down on the informal shops not towing the line.
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