R500m Spaza Fund: What officials uncovered before a cent was paid out

The Department of Small Business Development says applications flagged with discrepancies were rejected before any money was paid out

The Department of Small Business Development says applications flagged with discrepancies were rejected before any money was paid out from the R500 million Spaza Shop Support Fund.

Deputy Director-General Qiniso Delwa told the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development on Wednesday that SEDFA had identified cases where the applicant, licence holder and person operating the shop did not match.

The department also found cases where businesses could not be found at the addresses provided or were not operating as spaza shops.

Delwa said the discrepancies were picked up during the verification process and that the affected applications did not proceed to approval or disbursement.

R500m Spaza Fund: What officials uncovered before a cent was paid out

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