Migrant spaza shops: business lessons from Soweto

by | Jun 17, 2021 | Uncategorized

A survey on the operations of spaza shops in Soweto  revealed  migrants’  eccentric  business strategies and resilience dynamics. Trynos Gumbo and Simamkele Bokolo analyse the results. Almost all urban centres of the world are experiencing soaring informal economic...

The development of Spazas in South Africa

by | Jun 17, 2021 | Uncategorized

It is useful to understand how spaza shops have developed in South Africa. “‘Spaza’ means ‘hidden’ in Zulu.  The term arose during the apartheid era, when restrictions were placed on black people running businesses” (Bear, 2005). During the apartheid era, many of...

Spaza shops gain ground in SA

by | Jun 17, 2021 | Uncategorized

Cape Town – The rapid increase in the middle class in South Africa and population growth in the last two decades were among the factors that led to substantial growth of the informal or independent retail trade sector. The sector boasts R46 billion in annual...

Traditional trade and the R250bn opportunity

by | Jun 17, 2021 | Uncategorized

Using a small-area census approach, this article reports on changes in informal micro-enterprise activity in the Cape township of Delft between 2010 and 2015. The number of micro-enterprises has doubled (from 879 to 1798) in five years, with growth recorded in almost...