Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato says the various spheres of government need to come together and play a more critical role to support and protect small businesses, such as spaza shops, as they offer essential services in communities.

Plato’s office this week handed out 550 COVID-19 safety kits to spaza shops in Atlantis, Dunoon, Langa and Imizamo Yethu.

Plato says spaza shops is an important contributor to sustainable livelihoods and township economies.

Each of the safety kits contain two litres of hand sanitizer, 10 cloth masks, information on how to operate safely during the pandemic and a safety kit bag.