{"id":233302,"date":"2026-05-13T20:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T20:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/233302\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T20:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T20:28:14","slug":"where-did-the-r500m-spaza-shop-fund-go-minister-ndabeni-abrahams-responds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/233302\/","title":{"rendered":"Where did the R500m spaza shop fund go? Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams responds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Small business development minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has revealed that R44.572m of the R500m spaza shop support fund<\/a> has been disbursed to 728 South African-owned spaza shops across the country.<\/p>\n

The minister shared these figures on X following public pressure for accountability after the launch of a separate R300m construction fund on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Minister, believe it or not, we actually want you to succeed. Not because we support you, but because the youth of this country are DESPERATE for jobs and dignity. <\/p>\n

So when we ask for accountability, it’s not an attack. <\/p>\n

Now that we got that preview out of the way, Minister,\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/StiMiFOZaA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 VT (@VusiThembekwayo) May 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

In response, Ndabeni-Abrahams outlined how the money has been used and which provinces have benefited most.<\/p>\n

Ndabeni-Abrahams explained that while R44.572m has been paid out, a further R362.7m in applications is in the pipeline. She confirmed there are 4,526 ready-to-process applications covering stock, assets\/infrastructure and non-financial support.<\/p>\n

Of the applications now being processed 4,426 are for black-owned businesses, 2,207 are female-owned, 1,267 are youth-owned (ages 18\u201335) and 118 are owned by people with disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fund is closed to foreign nationals by design,\u201d Ndabeni-Abrahams said.<\/p>\n

The data showed that KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo are leading in securing funding to date:<\/p>\n

KwaZulu-Natal: 288 shops assisted (R17.28m)Limpopo: 171 shops assisted (R11.12m)Free State: 83 shops assisted (R4.65m)Western Cape: 46 shops assisted (R2.99m)Gauteng: 43 shops assisted (R2.80m)Eastern Cape: 42 shops assisted (R2.52m)Mpumalanga: 20 shops assisted (R1.12m)Northern Cape: 19 shops assisted (R1.06m)North West: 16 shops assisted (R1.04m)<\/p>\n

The initiative was launched last year in collaboration with the department of trade, industry and competition. This followed a mandate requiring all spaza shops and food-handling outlets to register their operations.<\/p>\n

Despite high interest \u2014 with 84,572 verified registrations out of 94,920 portal entries \u2014 the minister admitted that the rollout faced hurdles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not at the pace we want,\u201d she said. \u201cThe bottleneck is municipal certificates of acceptability and business licences.\u201d<\/p>\n

To ensure the funds reach owners effectively, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) and the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) have contracted three delivery channel partners. <\/p>\n

These partners are responsible for stock distribution, point of sale (POS) systems, and capacity building. The minister emphasised that these third-party partners provide logistical support only and \u201cdo not hold or manage the money\u201d.<\/p>\n

TimesLIVE<\/p>\n