Yesterday about 50 hawkers marched up and down Johannesburg's Hoek Street to demand an end to harassment Most wore T-shirts stating: "Please don't arrest this person for making an honest living! Concentrate on criminals." The 23 arrested – for hawking less than 100 metres from a general dealer – will not pay admission of guilt fines, according to Lawrence Mavundla, president of the African Council of Hawkers and Informal Sector (Achib). "We are not going to pay any fines," he said. "We are taking each and every case W court "
The 14 000-strong Achib launched its "anti-harassment campaign" on Monday, resolving to openly defy "unjust laws restricting hawking". But the Johannesburg City Council's Traffic and Security department said this week "the necessary enforcement" would continue – "until such time as restrictions are removed and existing laws changed". The hawkers' campaign is due to last as long as laws exist restricting them from trading freely, Mavundla said. "We are registering our dissatisfaction and we think the best way is m .go around breaking these unjust laws," he said. The campaign is focused on three laws which govern hawkers' trading:
- In some areas hawkers cannot stay in one area for more than two hours;
- They are not allowed to hade 17 metros from a general dealer selling similar goods, and
- They are not allowed to trade in a restricted area.
The campaign also intends opposing the confiscation of hawkers’ products. Achib has written to the Johannesburg City Council asking it to review the laws governing hawking. "Things are moving very slowly. Our people want to sell," said Mavundla. "We are making representations every year to the city council to remove these unjust trading law but “the response – although sweet – is accompanied by continued harassment."
Johannesburg City Council’s licensing officer, Kathy Filmalter, said the area where hawkers were restricted from trading had decreased "substantially". She said the council acted only if there was a complaint from members of the public – most of the complaints were from shopkeepers. Filmalter claimed her council had done mom than any other local authority to ease restrictions on hawkers.
Mavundla blamed shopkeepers for the on-going harassment saying they feared hawkers as "unfair competition". He believes the recent raids on hawkers were an attempt by the council to win shopkeepers' support in the October municipal elections. Mavundla said hawking created jobs and estimated the combined buying power of the hawkers presently at R1.8-billion rand. He called on the managing directors of all major companies to write letters asking local city councils w stop harassing hawkers. Mavundla said the statute books were (died with laws restricting hawkers and Achib were still discovering them. "One person was arrested for trading 100 metres from an intersection, a law we have never heard of before." – Mzimkulu Malunga
This article originally appeared in the Weekly Mail.
