One of the key priorities of the City of Johannesburg is to curb rising unemployment and reduce poverty among resident.
It was with this in mind that the Speaker of Council, Cllr Vasco da Gama, recently hosted a group of informal traders for a roundtable discussion on issues affecting the sector and ways in which the City can improve trading conditions.
The session was hosted at the Metro Centre in Braamfontein and was attended by Cllr Da Gama, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development Cllr Leah Knott and Member of the Mayoral Committee for Finance Cllr Funzela Ngobeni.
Cllr Da Gama said the engagement session provided a platform for informal traders in Johannesburg to contribute to the City’s draft Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the upcoming financial of year 2019/2020.
Both MMCs emphasised that the City was committed to growing the local economy by at least 5% and that small businesses were at the centre of this goal. They offered advice on the kind of support the City offers small to medium enterprises and encouraged informal traders to apply.
The day-long engagement was designed to enlighten the public about the type of opportunities the City has for young entrepreneurs and inform them about the municipality’s major projects, programmes and service delivery issues.
The City’s strategies and priorities towards development, poverty alleviation and SMME support were also discussed in the session.
“All views on how best to take the development of the City forward to curb poverty and unemployment will be considered when drafting the IDP,” said Cllr Da Gama.
Among other issues raised by informal traders were the unavailability of trading space, delays in the delivery of promised services, the lack of funding and the proliferation of undocumented migrants in the informal trading space.
Matron Mhlanga, an informal trader, encouraged his peers to work together in keeping the inner city. “Informal traders that aren’t registered with the City pose a threat to small businesses,” Mhlanga added.
Business owner, Nqobezitha Nene advised the City to include informal traders in its plans to solve social issues. “The reason I wanted to be an entrepreneur was to come up with solutions for social ills,” he concluded.
