Beyond the Burger: Who Is Opening South Africa’s Franchise Economy to New Owners?

South Africa has one of Africa’s most developed franchise industries, and nowhere is its visibility greater than in the food and quick-service restaurant sector. From established South African restaurant franchises to international fast-food operators, franchising has created recognisable brands, employment, supply chains and substantial opportunities for business ownership. The Franchise Association of South Africa has described a sector comprising more than 700 franchise systems and tens of thousands of franchisees, contributing approximately 15% of the country’s GDP.

Yet the continued growth of restaurant franchising in South Africa raises a question that deserves considerably more attention from the food industry: as franchise networks expand, how effectively are they expanding the number and diversity of people who can participate as owners?

That question brought Fiamme Holdings to our attention at Millionsworth Public Relations. Fiamme is the company behind The Fish & Chip Co and, more recently, Braai Republic, a South African quick-service restaurant concept launched at Northgate Mall in Johannesburg in November 2025. Braai Republic has subsequently expanded to a second location at Phumulani Mall. On its own, another restaurant opening would not necessarily warrant deeper reputation analysis. What makes Fiamme interesting is the combination of its existing franchise experience, the positioning of Braai Republic around recognisably South African food, the profile of the people entering the business as franchisees and the potential opportunity to build a wider corporate reputation around accessible franchise ownership.

The first Braai Republic franchisee, Promise Sithole, was already a franchisee within Fiamme’s The Fish & Chip Co network. Springbok prop Ox Nché has also become associated with Braai Republic as a franchisee, partner and brand ambassador, with involvement extending into product development. These are useful details because they begin to position Braai Republic beyond the conventional restaurant launch story. They raise a more substantial question about whether Fiamme could use the experience accumulated through The Fish & Chip Co to develop a pipeline through which existing operators, entrepreneurs and potentially new investors can participate in the growth of its restaurant brands.

For a South African food company seeking long-term relevance, that could become a far more valuable reputation position than simply competing for another share of the fast-food market.

South Africa’s restaurant franchise opportunity is increasingly about ownership

South Africa does not need to prove that restaurant franchising can produce scale. Famous Brands, whose portfolio includes Steers, Debonairs Pizza, Wimpy, Fishaways and Mugg & Bean, reported thousands of restaurants across its network and provides an established example of how South African food brands can develop substantial franchise infrastructure. Other restaurant groups have demonstrated similar resilience across different segments of the market, while international brands continue to regard South Africa as an important consumer market.

The next phase of the conversation should therefore extend beyond how many restaurants are opening to examine who is gaining access to restaurant ownership.

Franchising occupies an important position between conventional employment and starting an independent business from the ground up. A franchisee enters a business with an existing brand, operating procedures, products, procurement relationships, marketing infrastructure and accumulated experience. In return, the franchisor expects capital, operational discipline and compliance with the system. When properly structured, the relationship can reduce some of the uncertainty associated with entrepreneurship without removing the commercial risk inherent in running a business.

The difficulty is that access to reputable restaurant franchises can require significant capital. FASA currently lists the establishment cost for The Fish & Chip Co at R649,000 including VAT, together with an R85,000 upfront fee, while indicating that potential funding solutions may be available through banks or government programmes. By comparison, Kauai publishes an approximate setup cost of R2.8 million excluding VAT for a standard retail store, before its franchise fee and additional working-capital requirements, and expects an applicant to have 50% of the total investment available in unencumbered funds.

These figures should not be used to suggest that one franchise opportunity is better than another. Restaurant formats have different property requirements, equipment specifications, store sizes, menus, margins and operating economics. What the comparison demonstrates is how broad the financial spectrum of food franchise opportunities in South Africa has become. For an aspiring restaurant owner, the ability to enter the industry can depend as much on the structure of the franchise model as it does on entrepreneurial ability.

This is where Fiamme has an opportunity to establish a distinctive corporate narrative. The relatively lower published establishment cost of The Fish & Chip Co places the company in a part of the franchise market where the conversation about broader participation becomes particularly relevant. If Fiamme can combine accessible entry points with disciplined franchisee selection, financing relationships, training and sustainable store economics, it could build a reputation not simply as a restaurant franchisor but as a developer of restaurant entrepreneurs.

Franchise accessibility cannot simply mean lowering the price

There is an important reputational distinction that South African franchisors should recognise. Making franchise ownership more accessible cannot mean placing undercapitalised entrepreneurs into businesses they are unlikely to sustain. That would not broaden economic participation in any meaningful sense. It would merely transfer commercial risk to people with less capacity to absorb failure.

The stronger model is one that reduces unnecessary barriers while retaining the financial and operational standards required to protect the franchisee, the franchisor and the wider network. This requires more than publishing an affordable franchise fee. Prospective franchisees need realistic information about establishment costs, working capital, royalties, marketing contributions, expected owner involvement, training, site selection, procurement and ongoing operational support.

There is also room for the South African food franchise industry to think more creatively about how future owners are developed. An experienced restaurant manager may understand food costs, stock control, staffing, customer service and daily restaurant operations but lack the capital required for ownership. Another entrepreneur may possess capital but have limited restaurant experience. A mature franchise system should be capable of recognising that these are different candidates requiring different forms of support.

Employee-to-franchisee development, partnerships with commercial banks and development-finance institutions, smaller-format restaurants, structured co-investment arrangements and progressive multi-store ownership models could all become part of a broader discussion about franchise development in South Africa. The objective should not be to make restaurant ownership artificially easy. It should be to ensure that capable entrepreneurs can see a credible route from interest to qualification, financing, training and ultimately sustainable ownership.

For food companies, there is considerable reputation value in solving this problem properly. A restaurant group that can demonstrate that it creates successful franchisees is communicating something considerably more substantial than corporate claims about supporting entrepreneurship. It is providing evidence.

Why Braai Republic could become strategically important for Fiamme

Braai Republic gives Fiamme an opportunity to apply these lessons to a new South African restaurant brand from an early stage. The concept is commercially interesting because it takes food that requires very little cultural explanation in South Africa and places it inside a formal quick-service restaurant and franchise environment. Braai meat, pap, slap chips, shebo and familiar accompaniments provide a recognisable proposition while allowing the company to develop the operational systems required to reproduce the experience across multiple locations.

The brand is still young and should be treated accordingly. Two locations are not evidence of a national restaurant network, and premature claims about rapid expansion would weaken rather than strengthen the credibility of the business. The more important period is what happens next: whether the concept can perform across different locations, whether franchisees can achieve sustainable economics, whether customer demand extends beyond launch curiosity and whether Fiamme can replicate the operating standards that made the original proposition viable.

From a reputation and communications perspective, this is precisely when the corporate narrative should begin being developed. Companies frequently wait until expansion is already well advanced before attempting to define what they stand for beyond their products. Fiamme has an opportunity to establish that position while Braai Republic is still growing.

The first franchisee emerging from its existing franchise network is particularly relevant. If that becomes part of a repeatable pattern in which operators can progress within the Fiamme ecosystem, the company would have an important ownership story. If financing partnerships allow capable entrepreneurs to enter the network without compromising commercial standards, that story becomes stronger. If the company can demonstrate successful franchisees from different economic and professional backgrounds, it begins building evidence of a franchise-development model rather than relying on corporate language about opportunity.

Braai Republic’s public franchise information currently promotes operational systems, training, national marketing and supply-chain support to prospective franchisees. As the network develops, greater visibility around investment requirements, qualification criteria and franchisee development could make the ownership proposition an increasingly important part of the brand’s reputation.

For Fiamme, the strategic opportunity is therefore larger than establishing another South African fast-food franchise. It is the possibility of positioning the company as an organisation that knows how to take promising food concepts, build franchise infrastructure around them and develop entrepreneurs capable of owning and operating those businesses.

South African franchising should also start looking at African investors

There is another opportunity that deserves greater attention from South African restaurant groups. Discussions about franchise expansion into Africa have traditionally concentrated on exporting South African brands into markets such as Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe. That remains an important growth route, but it considers African expansion predominantly in one direction.

South Africa should also consider how entrepreneurs and investors from elsewhere on the continent can participate in South African franchise opportunities.

An established entrepreneur in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia or Zimbabwe may have the capital and operating experience required to invest in a South African restaurant franchise. For the franchisor, such an investor could represent more than the financing of a single South African outlet. A successful African franchisee who learns the company’s operating system in Johannesburg or Pretoria could eventually become a credible partner when the brand evaluates expansion into that entrepreneur’s home market.

There are, of course, regulatory considerations. Foreign investment, company structures, taxation, immigration and the right to work in South Africa require proper professional advice, and the circumstances of an investor who simply owns an interest in a business may differ from those of someone intending to relocate and operate the restaurant personally. Those complexities should not prevent the food and franchise industries from considering the commercial opportunity.

For Fiamme, the question becomes particularly interesting because Braai Republic is unmistakably South African in its positioning. If the concept proves successful domestically, it could eventually provide the company with an exportable restaurant proposition alongside the franchise expertise already developed through The Fish & Chip Co.

Expansion elsewhere in Africa would, however, require cultural intelligence. Grilled meat is not uniquely South African. Countries across the continent have sophisticated food cultures built around meat, fire, spices and communal eating. A successful African expansion strategy would therefore need to export the Braai Republic business system and South African brand identity without assuming that the underlying food tradition is unfamiliar to the markets it enters.

That distinction is important for any South African food company considering African expansion. Entering another African country requires more than replicating a successful South African marketing campaign, menu and store design. Local consumer behaviour, pricing, supply chains, cultural relevance, franchise-partner selection and reputation all become part of the market-entry decision.

Fiamme has a corporate story that could become bigger than its brands

The reason Fiamme caught our attention is ultimately not because South Africa has another restaurant franchise. The country’s food industry produces new concepts regularly, and only time and commercial performance will determine which of them become sustainable businesses.

Fiamme is interesting because several elements are beginning to converge. The company has existing franchise experience through The Fish & Chip Co. It has launched a new South African QSR concept built around an immediately recognisable local food culture. Its first Braai Republic franchisee came from within its existing network. Ox Nché’s involvement extends beyond conventional celebrity endorsement into franchise participation and product development. The company has progressed from its initial Northgate location to a second Braai Republic store, providing the next opportunity to test whether the concept can be replicated.

Taken individually, none of these developments defines the company. Taken together, they present Fiamme with the foundations of a considerably stronger reputation position.

The opportunity is to become known not only for the restaurant brands it develops but for the business owners it develops alongside them.

Achieving that position would require evidence over time: successful franchisees, sustainable store economics, credible financing pathways, strong training and operational support, transparent franchise opportunities and, potentially, a deliberate strategy for attracting investors from elsewhere in Africa. If Fiamme can build those capabilities while successfully scaling Braai Republic and strengthening The Fish & Chip Co, it will have a corporate story capable of attracting the attention of business journalists, investors, prospective franchisees and partners beyond the food pages.

South Africa already knows how to consume successful restaurant brands. The more important opportunity for the country’s franchise industry is to increase the number of people capable of owning them.

Fiamme appears to be operating in precisely the part of the market where that conversation can become meaningful. What it chooses to do with the opportunity could determine whether the next chapter of its reputation is written around the number of restaurants it opens or around the number of entrepreneurs it helps put behind the counter as owners.

For an African food and franchise industry increasingly concerned with growth, localisation, investment and economic participation, the latter may prove to be the more valuable story.