KZN spaza owners face restocking issues
Some spaza shop owners in KwaZulu Natal say they have been running out of stock due to limited access to their suppliers.
National regulations were relaxed earlier this month, allowing informal food traders and spaza shops to reopen.
Charles Nagayama, who runs a spaza shop in Richards Bay, says while he's happy to be working again - the biggest challenge has been restocking his store with fresh produce. It's been difficult with the coronavirus travel restrictions in place.
"It's not really easy for me to stock up on huge items life, mealie meal and big bags of rice. It's usually those small 2.5 kgs and 5 kg products - it's not really easy on the community members because a lot of them have big families."
Another spaza shop owner, Sthembiso Mkhize says warehouses are not operating like they used to.
"There are queues in the warehouse, sometimes in the warehouse, some of the products have been sold out, so you end up not having enough stock to supply to you customers, and that's frustrating for the community."
Durban consumer, Nobuhle Chili says they are being forced to travel to big retailers.
She says some day-to-day essentials aren't available at spaza shops.
"[Spaza shop owners] say it is hard to restock. That is affecting us because of the regulations that were put; we cannot be travelling every day."
