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26-08-2014: Santra’s suspicions unfounded
The City of Johannesburg has clearly indicated to all stakeholders that it is in the process of finding amicable and sustainable solutions for informal trading in the City.
This is also being done in compliance to the Constitutional Court Order as well as Section 6A (2) of the Businesses Act. It is important to note that the affected persons referred to in this Section are only the traders or their representatives. The process or roadmap was detailed in the consultation meetings with the various stakeholders.
At this stage there is no need for alarm or suspicion by Santra because all the City is doing now is to receive comments out of those consultation meetings, which will be used to draft a report including a plan of identified streets and proposals for future trading, in preparation for the second round of consultations with specifics at hand.
It is at these meetings that Santra and other trader representatives can thrash out the details of the plan and agree on what would constitute a fair deal for informal traders. It is in the interest of the City that as many of the challenges facing traders are effectively dealt with during these engagements. Only then can the City proceed with the next step of calling for public comment over a period of 21 days on the proclamation and de-proclamation of streets.
General bylaw enforcement must also not be seen as harassment or a special operation during this period. The remarking of existing trade areas is to protect traders themselves and any allegations of corruption must be substantiated so that action can be taken against those police officers.
It must be reiterated that the City has undertaken extensive processes to verify the traders identified in the Constitutional Court Judgement of December last year. The traders' organisations assisted in verifying their members. However there are still a large number of traders who are not verified even though the City requested them to present themselves for verification by the end of June 2014.
The City appeals to Santra to be patient as the administrative processes unfold because it will have the opportunity to raise matters during the second round of consultations.
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Issued on behalf of Councillor Ruby Mathang - Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development City of Johannesburg
Virgil James
City of Johannesburg
(011) 407 7226
082 467 9415
virgilj@joburg.org.za
