{"id":841040,"date":"2025-10-28T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=841040"},"modified":"2025-10-28T07:03:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T05:03:14","slug":"major-retail-store-forced-to-shut-down-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/841040\/major-retail-store-forced-to-shut-down-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Major retail store forced to shut down in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The City of Tshwane forced Shoprite in Bronkhorstspruit to close its doors last week (22 October) after it was found to be trading without valid permits, according to the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The shutdown forms part of the municipality\u2019s ongoing Clean Governance and Law Enforcement Campaign, which aims to restore order, safety, and accountability in the city\u2019s business environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya personally led the operation in Bronkhorstspruit, warning that the city will no longer tolerate businesses that disregard local laws.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo brand is above the law. If you want to trade in Tshwane, you must comply with our regulations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the city, a Shoprite outlet and a KFC were found to be trading without updated trading licenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The city indicated that Shoprite Group may face further penalties for allowing franchise outlets to operate without proper permits.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moya added that these efforts are part of a broader strategy to ensure that all businesses\u2014whether large retailers or small traders\u2014operate legally and responsibly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are building a law-abiding city. Businesses must respect our people, our by-laws, and our standards,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The City of Tshwane has ramped up enforcement efforts in recent months, extending its inspections to key business areas across the metro, including Hammanskraal and the Pretoria CBD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Officials confirmed that the Bronkhorstspruit crackdown is just one of many planned compliance operations as part of the Clean Governance initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the beginning of the year, Moya has joined several by-law enforcement teams in raids across Pretoria, where dozens of businesses have been closed for similar violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In one major operation in August, the city shut down trading activities at the Marabastad retail market after it was discovered that numerous traders were operating without the required permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That operation, carried out in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs and the South African Police Service, inspected 43 businesses in the area.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some traders were issued compliance notices, while two businesses were disconnected from illegal electricity connections. In total, seven shops and 20 stalls were closed immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We\u2019ve closed down the Shoprite in Bronkhorstspruit CBD. No trading permit. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CityTshwane?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CityTshwane<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WZIuERhioL\">pic.twitter.com\/WZIuERhioL<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Dr Nasiphi Moya (@nasiphim) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nasiphim\/status\/1980953169447223781?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 22, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">City criticised for its heavy-handed approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Moya said the decision to close the market was based on the city\u2019s street trading by-laws, which require all vendors to hold valid trading permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTrading without permits is illegal in Tshwane, and that is why the economic development and spatial planning department recommended the Marabastad retail market be closed,\u201d she said at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Moya, 341 premises were checked in August alone. Of those, 175 were found to be compliant, while 166 failed to meet regulatory standards.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The operations led to 135 statutory notices and 29 fines, totalling R125,000, being issued to offending businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the mayor maintains that these actions are necessary to enforce the law and promote fair business practices, not everyone supports the city\u2019s methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some critics argue that the abrupt shutdown of businesses\u2014often without prior warning\u2014has severe consequences for employees and small traders who depend on these operations for their livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, a business owner in Mamelodi took the City of Tshwane to court after their store was closed for alleged compliance issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The court ruled that the city could not arbitrarily shut down legally operating businesses, reaffirming that enforcement must be carried out fairly and within the bounds of the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the ruling, the Democratic Alliance (DA) criticised the city\u2019s heavy-handed approach.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The party said that while businesses must comply with regulations, enforcement should not destroy jobs or undermine the local economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe ruling reaffirms a principle that the DA has long stood for: businesses must comply with regulations, but enforcement must be carried out in a way that protects livelihoods and supports the local economy, not destroys them,\u201d the DA said in a statement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHeavy-handed closures do nothing but push more South Africans into poverty and unemployment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The DA added that the City should adopt a \u201cbalanced, supportive approach\u201d that helps traders become compliant rather than punishing them outright.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also called for the implementation of a council-backed strategy focused on clear guidelines, permit regulation, and support mechanisms to help small businesses meet legal requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to the closure, Shoprite told BusinessTech that the store did not receive a prohibition of trade notice by any of the regulators that visited the branch and therefore should not have been closed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The City of Tshwane forced Shoprite in Bronkhorstspruit to close its doors after it was found to be trading without valid permits, according to the city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":789327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[6490,7520,853],"class_list":["post-841040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-city-of-tshwane","tag-shoprite","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841040"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":841130,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841040\/revisions\/841130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}