Spaza shops, also known as tuck shops, originated in Apartheid-era South Africa when enterprising historically disadvantaged individuals were restricted from owning formal businesses, they began setting up informal, micro-convenience shops from their homes to serve their communities' daily needs in the townships. Spaza is a generic Northern Sotho colloquial term, meaning hidden or camouflaged.

Unregulated Transformation

Since 1994, these shops have continued to transform and develop in popularity and necessity along with the sprawling townships where people live long distances from the more expensive, formal shopping areas. Initially selling daily essentials like mielie meal, bread, and sugar over time, they've expanded their offerings to include a variety of goods, from small furniture items to toiletries, and even some electronics. South African banks are trying to win spaza shops as "bank shops" offering minimal banking services at lower costs than full bank branch offices. The link to the bank's back office is mostly via mobile phone based mobile banking.

Continental Migration

With the fall of apartheid came an inflow of migrants from across the continent, seeing many undocumented Ethiopian and Somali asylum-seekers coming to South Africa and opening spaza shops, creating tension between local and foreign micro-entrepreneurs. South Africa received 778,000 asylum applications between 2008 and 2012 alone and now more than 60% of spaza shops in townships today are run by foreign nationals. This tense situation between shopkeepers and local residents is helping to drive a culture of xenophobia and social conflict.

Food poisoning epidemic

In September 2024, there were 890 reported incidents of food-borne illnesses; spaza shops were identified by President Cyril Ramaphosa as being responsible for the spate of food-borne illnesses. Pesticides and organophosphates such as Terbufos and Aldicarb were found to contribute to some of deaths. On 15 November 2024, all spaza shops were told they had 21 days to register with their local municipality. Those shops which were implicated in 22 children's deaths would also to be shut. The South African Informal Traders Alliance (SAITA) agreed that the issue of food safety was vital; the root causes were that the City of Johannesburg had cut budgets and neglected health inspections. . Government regulations pertaining to the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants act (1972) had not been followed or enforced. Health inspections have not been a priority for all levels of government. Spaza shop owners can register at local municipalities for a trading permit