Takealot’s no-go zones

Takealot does not deliver to several communities in South Africa because of the high rates at which its vehicles get hijacked in those areas.

This is according to Takealot Group executive for external affairs and public policy Tshepo Marumule, who addressed the issue during a recent panel discussion.

The panel was held at a media event to unveil the findings of the Our Digital Horizon report produced by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) in partnership with Naspers.

“If we want to realise the promise of the platform economy, we’ve got to address the ability to move goods across the country,” said Marumule.

He explained that there are townships where manufacturers are based, and they are trying to bring their goods to a wider national market.

However, they are being held back because the courier vehicles transporting their product to Takealot’s warehouses are getting hijacked.

“They can’t realise that sale,” Marumule said.

“Crime, if we are not going to address it quite decisively, quite urgently, it’s going to undermine all the efforts that all of us in government and the industry are making.”

Takealot’s effort that Marumule was referring to was its R150-million investment into township e-commerce in Gauteng.

Takealot and the Gauteng Provincial Government launched the Takealot Township Economy Initiative in April this year.

The initiative comprises six Takealot programmes and was made official at a signing ceremony in Mamelodi West on 18 April 2024.

Among the six programmes is the Takealot marketplace SME and local industrialisation programme, which aims to transform townships into economic hubs by supporting local manufacturers.

Takealot said it would provide expert support, waive subscription fees for 12 months, offer dedicated onboarding and training, allocate free advertising credits for product launches, and provide one-year Proudly SA memberships for qualifying manufacturers.

It also includes Takealot’s township franchise development programme, which will offer ten franchisees financial and technical support training over the next five years.

The goal is to develop entrepreneurs and offer them the chance to expand their business skills while encouraging local economic growth in underserved areas.

A Takealot franchise is a base for collecting and delivering items ordered from the platform.

Unlike other franchise operations, Takealot franchise owners don’t pay any royalties.

Franchisees who run these hubs are entrepreneurs with some business experience and know-how.

Another part of the initiative is the Mr D Mzansi Trailblazer restaurant programme, which aims to offer independent restaurants a leg up with trading benefits to boost sales on the delivery platform.

There are no sign-up fees for joining the platform, and Takealot promised regular training to help restaurateurs use the available tools.

It also provided advertising credit to the value of R1,000 for the first three months of trading on Mr D and said there would be further credits in future.

Informal economy expert GG Alcock highlighted the huge hidden potential of small enterprises in townships at the BizNews Conference in Hermanus earlier this year.

Alcock estimated that the informal economy’s value is between R600 billion and R750 billion and growing much faster than the formal economy.

He estimated the growth of the informal retail sector to be almost double that of its formal counterpart.

Over the last five years, the informal sector has grown significantly, even at the expense of the formal sector, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.17%.

Alcock said there was no sign that this trajectory would slow down.

He said the spaza and superette sectors — which he likened to the formal, fast-moving consumer goods sector — dominate the informal economy.

Alock estimated these alone made up around R180 billion of the informal economy, with over 100,000 spaza shops nationwide and nearly 500,000 mobile traders.