October 28, 2004
By Ndaba Dlamini
THE City of Johannesburg and informal traders who ply their trade around the city have agreed to hold a no-holds-barred meeting at the end of November.
During a five-hour long workshop held on Tuesday, 26 October the two parties agreed to the meeting to thrash out their differences.
Johannesburg executive mayor Amos Masondo said the workshop, at Constitution Hill in Braamfontein, was aimed at "identifying and debating issues" raised by informal traders "with a view to coming up with creative and innovative approaches to deal with trader concerns".
"I hope this meeting will also help deepen the relationship between the City and informal traders, strengthen cohesion amongst traders themselves and help us engage on policy issues in order to create an enabling environment for small traders," said Masondo.
The workshop followed a public meeting in Yeoville on 13 October where informal traders presented Masondo with a memorandum demanding that a meeting be held "immediately" to resolve the hawkers' issues.
Livingstone Mantanga, chairperson of the Traders Crisis Committee (TCC), a representative of informal traders' organisations, laid down issues that needed to be addressed, including their concern that they were being sidelined in decision-making processes concerning street trading in the city.
"The City by-laws relating to informal trading are not development friendly. It is our view that hawkers should take part in drafting of by-laws. We are also not happy about the methods of by-law enforcement which we see as punitive," said Mantanga.
Mantanga also questioned the viability of market stalls and malls, which are being erected by Council around the city. "Hawkers have been banned, without being consulted, from trading in 27 suburbs and precincts in the city, areas where people with disposable income are located. We were also not consulted when the Informal Trading Development Programme (ITDP) was implemented by the City."
The City's ITDP, approved in 2002, envisages that trading should take place in markets, stalls and other demarcated spaces only. The programme aims to limit the number of traders to the carrying capacity of an area and prevent unregulated trade and negative impact on investment.
An executive member of the TCC, Edmund Elias, said the City should take an active interest in the development of the second economy. "Informal traders have a vision just like the City's Vision 2030. We have a vision to see hawkers taking part in the development of Joburg but this vision is not recognised."
In response, Councillor Parks Tau, the mayoral committee member for finance and economic development, said the City was a development facilitator and acted in the interests of its poorer residents - hawkers included. "The City has invested in a range of facilities like the Bree Street Mall, street stalls and informal trader markets, a conscious effort by local government to develop informal trading in the city."
At the moment, the City is erecting 1 000 new trading stands around the city. The TCC, however, has said 1 000 stands are not enough for large number of informal traders.
Tau said the City had committed to the personal development of informal traders. "Through a partnership between CIDA City Campus and the City of Joburg, we intend to train informal traders in basic business skills."
Lael Bethlehem from the City's economic development unit agreed and said a "significant budget" was available for training traders. About 460 informal traders have so far been trained.
Responding to hawkers' demands to be involved in joint decision-making processes, Masondo said it was the prerogative of the City to govern and make decisions. "However, the City recognises all voices in society and is keen on working with people as organised groups. The City commits itself to ongoing stakeholder consultations and dialogue with traders without compromising its mandate to govern and promote broad-based development for the benefit of all."
With the stipulated time of the workshop running out, Masondo suggested that another meeting be held at the end of November. "The hawker issue is going to be a long, drawn-out battle. We have to be open with one another so that we know the nature of this problem," he said.
The traders agreed and said they had "wounds, and in order for these wounds to be healed, another meeting had to be held."
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