What officials discovered about the R500m Spaza Fund before disbursement

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 has confirmed that applications flagged for discrepancies were rejected before any funds were disbursed from the R500 million Spaza Shop Support Fund.

Deputy Director-General Qiniso Delwa informed the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development that SEDFA identified cases where the details of the applicant, licence holder, and shop operator did not match.

Additionally, the department found cases where businesses were either untraceable at the provided addresses 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.

What officials discovered about the R500m Spaza Fund before disbursement

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