Small businesses in the townships may be under threat as big malls move in to capture the buying power of the previously disadvantaged .

At the opening of the Bara Mall in Johannesburg township Soweto this week, big business acknowledged that small players would need to be innovative in their approach in order to survive the entry of malls into the township.

Nedbank Gauteng corporate property finance director Ken Reynolds said: "Malls like these will definitely have an adverse effect on small businesses. Perhaps they'll need to change their focus to better provide for the needs of their customers." Reynolds said the malls would be good for consumers, as they would result in increased competition and lower prices closer to home.

Businessman Sisa Ngebulana who is building a shopping centre in NU 9 Mdantsane, just outside East London was unavailable to comment on how it would affect small businesses in the township.

A council official who refused to be named, said that the mall would help enhance business in the area, as it would encourage people to spend their money in the township.

But Mdantsane-based businesswoman Beatrice Caze, who runs a restaurant in the area, was already anxious about losing customers to the big players.

"The big businesses will definitely affect me, and my customers will go to them," she said. Caze, a member of the Mdantsane chamber of commerce, also felt resentful because "the business community in the area was not consulted on the mall", which is already under construction.

The malls in Soweto are competing for the estimated R4,3bn consumer spending power of the 3,5 million Sowetan residents.

Daily Dispatch