More township businesses need to be put back in the hands of local owners - Gauteng legislature committee

JOHANNESBURG - The Gauteng provincial legislature's portfolio committee on community safety said that more township businesses needed to be put back in the hands of local owners amid renewed tensions over the local economy.

Five children died on Sunday in Soweto after consuming chips from a foreign-owned spaza shop in Naledi.

The tragedy has again brought compliance issues to the fore, including questions about the registration of small businesses in communities.

Chairperson of the portfolio committee on community safety, Bandile Masuku, said that government needed stronger campaigns for local ownership to boost community development.

"That's the nature of spaza shops. They are not just shops for trading but they are also centres for those communities to drive activities in those communities."