Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni cautioned local spaza shop owners who are fronting for foreigners. Image: Supplied
The Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni, has threatened to withdraw funding for spaza shops after many locals applied and handed shops back to foreigners.
Speaking at the South Africa Funeral Practitioners Association international conference in Durban on Tuesday, Ndabeni revealed that in the first phase of disbursement of R500 million that was set aside to support the township and rural economy, the government discovered that there were locals who fronted for foreigners.
She said that her department set aside R150 million, while R350 million came from the Trade and Industry Department (DTI); however, the government was disappointed when it discovered that locals applied for funding only to hand over spaza shops to foreigners.
She warned that as her department rolls out the second phase of the disbursement, she would ensure that those locals who front for foreigners do not get funding, saying her department would strictly scrutinise every application to ensure the funding is going to the correct person.
She further stated that there would be follow-ups and inspections of spaza shops that received funding to see who is running them.
“We appeal to locals to stop applying for funding for their spaza shops and handing them over to foreigners. This undermines the country’s efforts to grow the local economy and uplift locally owned businesses. There are no visas for spaza shops and if we discover that the practice continues, we will not hesitate to withhold funding.,”
She also stated that the R150 million from her department is for stock, while R350 million from DTI is for infrastructure, adding that half of the funding has already been disbursed, with KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga emerging as the biggest beneficiaries.
Ndabeni also defended locals for demanding the closure of foreign-owned spaza shops, saying that it was not informed by xenophobia but by unfair trade practices, as there are no visas for foreigners to come here and open spaza shops. It has been reported that many foreigners come through with tourist visas, then convert them to asylum and end up opening businesses.
In response to that, Ndabeni said her department has introduced a Bill in Parliament that seeks to reserve certain sectors of the economy for locals, such as spaza shops.
Furthermore, she promised to assist the burial industry and other small businesses by dealing with red tape that comes with compliance mechanisms from departments such as Home Affairs, Health, and municipalities.
While assisting with the reduction of red tape, she urged small businesses, when new legislation affecting them is being drafted, to participate in public hearings.
She explained that these red tapes they encounter after a Bill has been passed into Act would have been prevented had they submitted their input to the responsible parliamentary committee.
The four-day conference ends on Wednesday.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za
Pick n Pay’s store network has undergone significant changes over the past decade, with its store reset programme seeing the footprint shrink significantly.
However, Pick n Pay CEO Sean Summers said this programme, which targeted loss-making stores, has now been successfully concluded and has aided the group’s financial health.
Now, the group is embarking on a review of its store labour model, having initiated Section 189 proceedings in early May.
In addition, with its store reset programme completed, the company can now focus on optimising and refurbishing its existing network, as well as rolling out new stores that better align with the group’s strategy.
Pick n Pay released its results for the 2026 financial year on Monday, 25 May, which showed some progress in the company’s ongoing turnaround.
One notable milestone was the conclusion of Pick n Pay’s store reset programme, which was launched in the 2024 financial year.
This programme was considered a core element of the group’s turnaround strategy, aimed at eliminating losses from underperforming company-owned Pick n Pay stores.
At the start of this programme, Pick n Pay identified 112 loss-making stores that would either be closed, converted to Boxer stores, or converted to Pick n Pay franchises. By 2025, this had increased to 114 stores.
This decision came at a cost. Since the stores had limited scope for reaching profitability, resetting the estate triggered a huge non-cash asset impairment of over R1.73 billion in the 2024 financial year.
In 2025, an impairment loss of R93 million was recorded relating to the reset stores.
However, Summers previously explained that this short-term pain would be worth the long-term gain.
To his point, the store reset programme was projected to lead to associated savings and loss avoidance of around R850 million in the 2024 financial year.
This programme, along with other factors, has significantly altered Pick n Pay’s footprint over the past two years, though the group now still has more stores in its network than it had a decade ago, as seen in the table below.
Financial Year
Pick n Pay (Company-Owned)
Pick n Pay (Franchise)
Boxer (Company-Owned)
FY16
596
549
208
FY17
661
614
229
FY18
722
660
246
FY19
749
719
270
FY20
794
774
298
FY21
N/A
761
N/A
FY22
N/A
N/A
N/A
FY23
957
747
428
FY24 (Store estate reset programme started)
1,007
722
477
FY25
971
697
525
FY26
992
620
576
Note: The exact split between Pick n Pay and Boxer company-owned stores is not explicitly detailed in the company’s reports for FY21 and FY22. However, the group reported a total of 1,172 company-owned stores and 761 franchise stores at the end of FY21.
Boxer booming as Pick n Pay shrinks
As Pick n Pay has been implementing its store estate reset programme, its subsidiary, Boxer, has only seen its network grow over the past few years.
Boxer is currently one of the fastest-growing retailers in South Africa, having grown its network by 99 stores between the 2024 and 2026 financial years.
Over that same period, Pick n Pay’s company-owned stores declined by 15 stores, while the franchise network shrank by 102 stores.
Boxer’s network naturally benefited from Pick n Pay’s store reset programme, as some loss-making stores were converted to Boxer stores.
However, Boxer’s footprint has also grown in its own right, with the group’s network having more than doubled from 208 to 576 stores over the past decade.
While Pick n Pay’s store reset programme was specifically aimed at company-owned Pick n Pay stores, the group has also seen a significant reduction in franchise stores over the past few years.
Franchise stores have historically been a vital part of Pick n Pay’s strategy, with the network having peaked at 774 stores in the 2020 financial year.
However, in recent years, this footprint has shrunk significantly, due to a combination of closures, conversions, and the termination of the Namibian master franchise agreement.
The termination of this agreement led to 36 franchise stores being closed in the 2026 financial year alone.
The closures and conversions of franchise stores occurred independently of Pick n Pay’s store reset programme, with many starting even before it was launched.
For example, in 2021, the group converted 34 franchise stores to company-owned formats, another 7 the year after, 22 more in 2023, and another 10 in 2024.
In mid-2025, Pick n Pay also acquired the franchise operations in Botswana from its master franchisee for R36 million. This deal effectively “corporatised” the region, converting 13 franchise supermarkets into corporate-owned stores.
These conversions allowed Pick n Pay’s corporate-owned store network to decline far slower than its franchise network, despite the store estate reset programme.
The ANC has instructed Sisi Tolashe to step down as Member of Parliament and as the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) president. Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
ANC has moved against ANC Women’s League president Sisisi Tolashe, instructing her to resign as both an MP and ANCWL president after the party’s integrity commission found her guilty of misconduct in public office.
This was confirmed by senior party insiders to IOL, who said this was discussed over the national executive committee (NEC) meeting over the weekend.
Behind closed doors, however, the sources described an atmosphere of fury, frustration, and political exhaustion.
“The organisation reached a point where it could no longer defend the indefensible,” said a senior ANC source familiar with the NEC discussions.
“Leaders agreed that failing to act against Tolashe would destroy whatever credibility the ANC still has on issues of ethics and accountability.”
Another senior party figure said the decision was meant to send a message across ANC structures.
“This is the strongest signal yet that the era of protection and excuses is being challenged,” the source said. “The ANC understands the public is watching closely.”
The ANCWL is now expected to hold urgent discussions over Tolashe’s exit as fears mount over instability and factional battles inside the league.
Another source who backed the decision said the party had no choice.
“Painful as it is, accountability must apply to everyone… The movement cannot survive if leaders believe positions are shields against consequences,” the source said.
Despite mounting pressure, Tolashe had resisted calls to resign, insisting she would only step aside if Ramaphosa personally instructed her to do so.
The president eventually dismissed her from the Cabinet but now the ANC is moving to remove her from every remaining position she holds within the state and the party.
The matter reached a boiling point during a tense weekend meeting of the ANC’s NEC, where members endorsed the integrity commission’s findings and escalated the case to the party’s disciplinary committee.
On Tuesday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula confirmed that Tolashe and former police minister Bheki Cele were among five ANC members referred for allegedly bringing the organisation into disrepute.
“The constitutional disciplinary process will run its ordinary course,” Mbalula said.
Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni and his co-accused are expected to return to court on Thursday after their extortion case was struck off the roll. Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Mpumalanga taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni extortion case is back on the court roll.
Sibanyoni and his three co-accused are expected to line up in the dock of the Delmas Magistrate’s Court.
The four accused are expected to appear in court on Thursday after the matter was transferred amid escalating tensions over the case’s sensitivity.
Sibanyoni and his co-accused face allegations of extorting more than R2 million in so-called protection fees from a local mining entrepreneur.
Tonjeni also issued a warrant for Ntaba’s arrest and convicted him of contempt of court, triggering sharp backlash from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
The NPA has since accused the magistrate of misapplying the law and has moved to challenge the rulings in a higher court.
NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed the authority has also lodged a formal complaint against Tonjeni with the Magistrates Commission.
“The formal complaint is premised on serious concerns that the NPA has in the manner in which she conducted the court proceedings on May 15 and 18 2026 that culminated in the two orders that she granted,” Kganyago said.
The controversial orders included the contempt conviction against Ntaba, the issuing of a warrant for his arrest and the decision to strike the criminal matter from the court roll under Section 342A of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The prosecuting authority has already filed a notice of intention to appeal both the contempt ruling and the arrest warrant, arguing that the developments have serious implications for the administration of justice.
The case has attracted intense attention due to allegations involving extortion, intimidation and organised criminal activity linked to Mpumalanga’s taxi industry.
Meanwhile, Santaco has re-elected Sibanyoni as its second deputy president despite ongoing legal troubles.
South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago. The Sarb already warned in March that the ongoing Middle East conflict is a clear instance of a supply shock, which raises prices while weakening demand. Image: Supplied
South African consumers could face a double blow in June as economists predict the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) to raise interest and the government will end the R3-per-litre fuel levy relief.
The recent relief has helped motorists cope with rising global oil prices. The Sarb’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is likely to take a hawkish stance on Thursday after inflation rose from 3.1% in March to 4.0% in April, mainly due to increasing fuel costs linked to the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Several economists now warn that inflation could climb closer to 5% in the coming months, increasing pressure on the Sarb to act pre-emptively to prevent higher prices from becoming entrenched in the economy.
The Sarb already warned in March that the ongoing Middle East conflict was a clear instance of a supply shock, which raises prices while weakening demand. The central bank said waiting for clear evidence risks leaving the policy response too late.
According to Nedbank economists Johannes (Matimba) Khosa and Nicky Weimar, the sharp jump in petrol and diesel prices has already started filtering through to broader transport and operating costs, pushing core inflation higher and increasing the risk of second-round inflation effects.
Nedbank acknowledged that the MPC had some space to wait and see how the global supply shock unfolds, as monetary policy remained moderately restrictive and the usual accelerants of spiking risk premia and significant rand weakness have not yet materialised.
“Despite these valid considerations, our analysis suggests that inflation expectations are particularly sensitive to petrol price increases, and we, therefore, see a relatively high risk of second-round effects,” they stated.
“As such, tightening monetary policy now would ensure that the inflationary consequences of the supply-side shock are temporary and likely minimise the need for more severe tightening later in the cycle.”
Nedbank expected the Sarb to raise the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7%, which would push the prime lending rate to 10.50%.
Adriaan Pask, chief investment officer at PSG Wealth, said the Sarb faced a difficult balancing act between protecting economic growth and defending its inflation credibility.
He argued that while higher fuel and electricity prices were largely supply-side shocks that interest rates could not directly solve, the Sarb could not risk appearing complacent about inflation drifting away from its preferred 3% target.
“The more durable solution lies in reforms that reduce supply-side costs, improve productivity and give South Africa a stronger, more sustainable growth platform,” Pask said.
However, the prospect of another rate increase is likely to deepen pressure on already heavily indebted households.
Workers and consumers are simultaneously facing rising transport costs, electricity tariff increases and expensive food and credit costs, while economic growth remains sluggish.
