Overview of SPAR’s Legal Landscape
SPAR, one of the biggest retail chains in South Africa, has faced more than 20 lawsuits over the last ten years. The cases cover a wide range of topics—store‑level disagreements, franchise issues, banking matters, competition concerns, and general commercial disputes. A search of legal records shows that some of these cases go back to at least 2010.
Scale of Disputes
- Number of stores: About 3,800 outlets spread across several countries.
- Workforce: Thousands of employees keep the stores running every day.
- Daily reality: With such a large operation, something unexpected pops up in a store almost every morning.
Chairman’s View
Mike Bosman, the chairman of SPAR, says that conflicts are inevitable when you run a business of this size. He told IOL:
“If you wake up thinking nothing will go wrong somewhere in one of your stores, you’re being naïve.”
Bosman also points out that a single disagreement at one location can easily be blown up to look like a problem for the whole group, even though it usually isn’t.
New Allegations from Amaan Sayed
In September 2025 a due‑diligence report prepared by BDO raised concerns about a specific SPAR store on Bloed Street. The report highlighted:
- Possible VAT irregularities
- Unreliable financial information
- Signs of potential stock manipulation
- Mismatches between sales figures, inventory counts, and accounting records
Amaan Sayed, a businessman interested in buying that store, commissioned the report as part of his takeover plan. He has since forwarded the allegations to regulators such as the JSE, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission.
SPAR’s Response
SPAR issued a statement to shareholders rejecting the idea that the BDO findings reflect a broader problem. Key points from the retailer’s reply:
- The BDO work was a limited due‑diligence review for one store transaction, not a full audit or forensic investigation of the entire group.
- External auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers has not flagged any reportable irregularities in SPAR’s overall financial reporting or governance.
- Sayed hired BDO to help negotiate the purchase of the Bloed Street store for R4 million. The agreement was signed in February 2025 but still needs approval from the SPAR Community, an independent body that oversees retailer membership.
- The SPAR Community turned down Sayed’s membership application in March 2025 because of his credit history and the need to protect the SPAR brand.
- SPAR suggests that the timing of the complaints against Bosman raises questions about Sayed’s motives and credibility.
Previous Complaints and History
This isn’t the first time Sayed has clashed with SPAR. Three years earlier he joined a group of former retailers who accused the then‑chief executive Brett Botten and the company of:
- Inflating the prices of loss‑making stores when they were sold
- Shifting liabilities between different entities
- Using complex financial structures to hide losses in parts of the business
Sayed claimed he was asked to sign agreements that showed different values for the same deal before he could start legal action. He also argued that the financial data given during store acquisitions did not match the actual performance of those businesses.
Bosman told IOL that many of the lawsuits documented in court filings happened before a board overhaul that began in late 2022. He said those issues were part of a wider turnaround plan.
“When I joined the company in 2023, one of my tasks was to examine the business and fix these problems. Over the past few years we have resolved most of them.”
Conclusion
SPAR’s size means it will always encounter occasional disagreements—whether they involve a single store, a franchise partner, or a financial matter. Chairman Mike Bosman stresses that isolated incidents should not be taken as signs of a systemic flaw across the whole group.
While new allegations from Amaan Sayed have attracted attention, SPAR maintains that the concerns are limited to one store transaction and that its overall financial health and governance remain sound, as confirmed by its external auditors. The ongoing dialogue between the retailer, regulators, and interested parties will help clarify whether these points are isolated hiccups or symptoms of something deeper. For now, the company says it is focused on running its thousands of stores smoothly and keeping customers happy.
