New policy for City of Joburg traders

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Following the uproar over last week's citizen's arrest by City of Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba of a man transporting bleeding cow heads in a trolley, the city has announced that a new informal street-trading policy will be introduced by March next year. The issuing of permits will start in January and space will be allocated maintaining the rule of law as well as health compliance, MMC for economic development Leah Knott said. She said although it had always been difficult to accurately measure the size of the informal sector in the South African economy, estimates put the informal sector at between 7% and 13% of the total economy. “The City of Joburg acknowledges the valuable role that the informal sector plays in providing large numbers of our residents with a means to feed themselves and their families. The current administration promotes entrepreneurial spirit, but at the same time needs to strike a balance between trading and the needs of all other residents and businesses, with a focus on maintaining the rule of law as well as health compliance,” Knott said. Due to the very nature of street trading and hawking, arriving at a solution that satisfied all stakeholders, from trader to taxi associations, as well as residents and business owners, could prove difficult.

“We have sought to remedy these problems by embarking on a process of producing a new street trader policy that involves the input of all affected parties. The city's department of economic development began by consulting with all trader and hawker associations in order to understand their requirements and historical problems.

“Simultaneously, regional investigations were conducted to identify additional areas for traders and hawkers. This process also involved a comprehensive head count of traders per region,” she said.

This consultative process had now been completed and a draft policy had been submitted for legal scrutiny. The final policy was planned to be before the council in March.

The new policy, together with improved resources, would empower the city to support and regulate trading in a more consistent manner.

“We are committed to defeating unemployment and boosting small business. However, we must also respect the rule of law. The city cannot ignore the actions of individuals who refuse to accept any form of regulation and don't respect the rights of others,” Knott added.