spaza shop

/ ˈspɑːzə /

noun

1. slang,  a small informal shop in a township, often run from a private house

Word History and Origins

Origin of spaza shop¹

from township slang: dummy, camouflaged

Example Sentences

Her store of choice is a spaza shop - the term for a small informal outlet - in her township of Diepsloot.

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“Right now I need to make sure my stock sells out, and I have enough to feed my family,” said Peter Pooe, 55, who owns a spaza shop, a South African version of a corner store.

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In one lovely passage, Nolitye reaches a spaza shop “just as the sun disappears below the horizon. The sky is awash with a deep red color.... A cloud of smoke hangs above Phola, but it is not thick enough to blot out the moon that is climbing up behind the shanties.”

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“It’s OK because we can’t go to break schools and churches or our own shops. We are blocking the streets and break Somalians or foreigners’ spaza shop,” Matikinya said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Although unemployment among South Africans ages 15 to 34 is 37.5%, young Somali refugees find work quickly, usually by working in a spaza shop – a convenience store that sells basic groceries – owned by another Somali.

Read more on Los Angeles Times