South African Spaza Shops Association

The South African Spaza Shops Association represents the tens of thousands of spaza shops - small informal township convenience stores - that form the backbone of daily commerce in South African townships and informal settlements. Spaza shops are often home-based businesses operating from converted garages, shipping containers, or shack structures, serving local communities with basic groceries, household goods, airtime, and daily essentials. The spaza shop sector employs hundreds of thousands of South Africans, though it has faced increasing competition from foreign-owned spaza shops, fuelling ongoing policy and social debates.