Women urged to take over abandoned spaza shops

By Celani Sikhakhane

• Deputy Mayor Hlengiwe Nkosi says empty spaza shops offer local women an opportunity to start businesses and play a bigger role in village economies.

• eThekwini Municipality is also registering hair and beauty salons as part of efforts to formalise businesses and strengthen the township economy.

Women in northern KwaZulu-Natal are being urged to turn empty spaza shops into new business opportunities.

Big Five Hlabisa Local Municipality Deputy Mayor Hlengiwe Nkosi told women to take advantage of shops that are no longer operating after undocumented foreign nationals who ran them left the country.

Nkosi was speaking at a women’s gathering at Inkosi Makabongwe Hall in KwaHlabisa on Friday.

She said the empty shops could give women a chance to earn an income and take a bigger role in their local economy.

“There are many shops in our villages that are not operational because no one has taken over after the undocumented immigrants who were owning them left the country,” Nkosi said.

“This is the time for you ladies to run these spaza shops in order to participate in the economy of our villages.”

Nkosi said the municipality was already helping women who sell goods at schools.

She said the municipality wants more women to enter the informal economy and receive the skills they need to grow their businesses.

Her call comes as township businesses and the role of foreign nationals in the informal economy remain under the spotlight in KwaZulu-Natal.

Some undocumented foreign nationals have left spaza shops and other businesses, including beauty salons, following pressure over their immigration status and a 30 June deadline announced by the March and March movement.

Push to formalise township businesses

In June, eThekwini Municipality also started a programme aimed at registering spaza shops and hair and beauty salons.

More than 600 salon owners, operators and other people working in the industry have responded to the municipality’s drive to register and formalise the sector.

The first Hair and Beauty Salon Business Registration programme was launched at Umlazi V Hall.

The city said the programme aims to build a database of salon businesses, improve compliance and identify the support businesses need to operate legally and safely.

The registration drive follows a decision by the full council in 2024 to adopt the Business Licensing Bylaw, which came into effect in 2025.

The bylaw includes the registration of hair and beauty salons, which the city sees as an important part of the local economy.

Salon owners attending the launch were given information about business licences, land use rules, fire safety, environmental health, waste management and informal trading rules.

They were also told about business support available through the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Financial institutions attended the event to explain funding opportunities and help business owners open bank accounts.

For Nkosi, the message to women in Big Five Hlabisa is clear: where shops are standing empty, there could be an opportunity for local women to step forward, build businesses and earn an income.

Pictured above: Big Five Hlabisa Local Municipality Deputy Mayor Hlengiwe Nkosi urged women to take over spaza shops left vacant after undocumented foreign nationals departed.

Image source: Big Five Hlabisa Local Municipality.