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IRER RETAIL FA E T A E R C S LP E H L A SELP SHIP TRADERS MARKETS FOR TOWN
More than half of adult South Africans were shopping online by the end of 2016. Online spending is forecast to more than double by this year. The facts are in and e-commerce is set to reshape South Africa’s consumer landscape like nothing else in the last few years. Stephen Goldberg is the CEO of Selpal, which offers a virtual distribution platform to connect manufacturers, suppliers, merchants and consumers. He argues that technological advances in the retail world are creating fairer and cheaper markets in everything from food, clothes, transport and telecommunications to accommodation. In the context of South Africa’s history, this becomes even more important. Selpal gathers data on township wholesalers, spaza shops, taverns and consumers. It therefore has a unique insight into the buying choices and patterns in the township retail space.
This segment has traditionally suffered the highest prices despite being comprised of the poorest consumers, because of distribution and other challenges. The world marked World Consumer Rights Day on 15 March this year with a focus on making digital marketplaces fair. South Africans rightly joined in, expecting secure and fairer markets, in particular for the most vulnerable who in this country reside in townships and peri-urban centres dotted around the country’s major urban centres. Selpal caters to this market. Technology is bringing greater transparency and efficiency to the product supply chain, benefitting the consumer through cheaper prices, and enabling access to a wider range of products. This is one of the main themes of World Consumer Rights this year.
WN ON ILLEGAL O D P M LA C O T G N E T GAU SES IN TOWNSHIPS S E IN S U B D E N W -O N FOREIG The Gauteng provincial government has announced a drive to shut down illegally operating foreign-owned businesses in townships. Gauteng Premier David Makhura said the illegally run businesses were threatening local entrepreneurs. “Another major problem facing township businesses is the mushrooming of unregulated businesses owned by foreign nationals. This is a matter we must address boldly and decisively to enforce by-laws and trading regulations,” Premier Makhura announced during his State of the Province Address. “Many township entrepreneurs are being squeezed out of business by these unlawfully operating businesses. This year, I will send inspectors to visit townships and inner cities to conduct inspections and shut down these illegally operating businesses.” Spaza shops have been an area of conflict in recent years in townships, 24
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with local owners complaining that foreign nationals are infiltrating townships with shops that offer lower prices, which drives them out of business. The township economy took centre stage in Premier Makhura’s address, where he indicated that between 2014 and 2017, public procurement spent on township enterprises increased from R600-million to R17-billion.
The number of township enterprises doing business with government has increased from 642 in 2014 to 4 182 in 2017, which, according to the Premier, has helped formalise many township enterprises. However, funding and access to markets are the two most critical barriers facing black start-ups and township enterprises.
