Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(S.Afr. township) an illicit (thus ‘camouflaged’) or latterly informal grocery or general store.

1988		Natal Mercury 22 Dec. 2: The proliferation of ‘spaza’ or camouflage grocery shops in township homes [...] was evidence that more blacks were becoming self-employed [...] About 240 spaza stores were opening [...] around the country [...] every month [DSAE].
1989		K. Ngwenya in Drum (Johannesburg) Feb. 6: Spaza is a [sic] township parlance for camouflage or dummy. The word describes the way traders were forced to operate underground because they usually broke all rules and regulations [...] The typical spaza today consists of a section of a private house that has been converted into a grocery store [DSAE].
1994		Sun. Times (Johannesburg) 18 Sept. 9: A Chinese woman [...] runs a spaza shop from her garage [DSAE].
2010		IOL News Western Cape) 4 Mar. 🌐 You have probably heard of spaza hip hop via Rattex or Driemanskap.