SPAR joins the 'money bag' trend as grocery bag wars heat up in Mzansi

Last week, the Woolies bag was trending for all the reasons, honey. And Mzansi hasn’t known peace since.

It all started with Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. During his testimony in Parliament, he casually revealed that he used a Woolworths carrier bag to move R300,000 in cash, calling it his “money bag”. 

From that moment, the internet didn’t just run with it; it sprinted. Soon, the jokes were everywhere. People compared the Woolies carrier to luxury designer bags, saying it had “entered its Louis Vuitton era.”

Others joked that even corruption in South Africa has “soft life tendencies”.

Memes showed people holding the bag like a Birkin, while some pretended to be influencers doing “unboxings” with the iconic white Woolies carrier. The bag became the star, not the scandal.

Mzansi crowned the Woolies bag a status symbol, the kind of accessory you place on the table just to remind the room that your groceries come with soft-life energy. People were rating it like it were designer. 

Then came the fashion era. A little girl went viral on TikTok for rocking a full “cat suit” made from the Woolies bag, and the confidence? The way she committed to that homemade haute couture? She turned a carrier bag into a runway moment. 

And because we’re in South Africa - a place where anything feels like a movie - it was only a matter of time before another supermarket jumped in. But babes… I did not expect the next contestant to be SPAR.

A TikTok video is now going viral after user @mafuze_2 posted a clip captioned, “Thank you, my Spar,” showing off SPAR’s brand-new carrier.

And listen, gone are the plain white, red, and green bags we grew up with (not that it matters). SPAR has entered the chat with something strikingly similar to the Woolies carrier: a clean white-and-black reusable woven bag that immediately gives “I, too, can be bougie.”

Strong material, sleek design, and that “I’m practical but slightly posh” vibe, SPAR understood the assignment.

Maybe SPAR felt inspired after Woolies switched to the white carriers. Or maybe they simply said, “Why must only one store have all the fun?”

One user commented: "Spar is seeking attention from the wrong target market. Maybe in 2026, but we are still operating with the Woolies bag."

@dtwo_commented: "Why are supermarkets behaving like neighbours in the ghetto? 😆"

karabow_moeketsi also commented: "Spar said woolies went white, now it’s my time to shine 😭😭"

While @King Litz repeated a statement made by Matlala: "We only operate with Woolies bag 😂."

Askies Spar.