RELATED LINKS: Survey gives insight into street trading The survey conducted during June and July 2003 by the Johannesburg City Council, saw 7 500 informal traders from across the City's 11 regions interviewed. Read more City by-laws The complete set of by-laws covers various local government issues such as public roads and miscellaneous, parking grounds, public open spaces, street trading, public health, cemeteries and crematoria, emergency services, culture and recreation services, and encroachment on property. Read more City and hawkers kiss and make up Following weeks of public wrangling, the City of Johannesburg and representatives of organised hawkers on Wednesday announced that they have agreed to reopen lines of communication and to work together to resolve outstanding problems between them. Read more

Council, traders to hold policy workshop June 10, 2004 By Ndaba Dlamini THE City of Johannesburg and informal trade leaders have agreed to hold a policy dialogue workshop early next month after a meeting was called by the Informal Business Forum (IBF), an umbrella body of informal trade organisations in the city, on 25 May. IBF media spokesperson, Edmund Elias, said the Forum was "cautiously optimistic" that this development would initiate a comprehensive process that will map out a lasting solution to informal trade problems in the city. The Forum called the meeting because it was "displeased" by the actions of the council, which seemed to be doing more chasing than placing of street traders. The council agreed to revisit the policy document on informal trade in the city which, according to Elias, "downsizes" the informal trade sector. "This promises a new direction for the sector which was not consulted when the Council drafted the policy document in September 2002. We hope the dialogue will pave way for a better relationship," Elias said. Council policy envisages that trading should take place in markets, stalls and other demarcated spaces only. The City's informal trading development programme (ITDP) - part of council policy to manage the impact of informal trading on the city's infrastructure and help develop a vibrant and diverse trading sector - plans to provide traders with appropriate facilities, limit the number of traders to the carrying capacity of an area and prevent unregulated trade. According to Sean Dinat, the council's SMME (small, medium and micro enterprises) programme manager, the council is working closely with informal trade leaders. The International Labour Organisation (ILO), which earmarked South Africa as a project country in the implementation of its action programme on skills and entrepreneurship training for countries emerging from armed conflict, will be asked to facilitate dialogue between informal traders and council. "Essentially, the role of the ILO is to forge a partnership with IBF and develop informal trade in South Africa as a whole. This development could mark the beginning of the people's contract to create employment as promised by government," according to Elias. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za