Five years later and still no stand
ALEXANDRA - Claims are being made that people are paying for trading stands at the Pan Africa Mall that are never allocated.
A 75-year-old woman is frustrated as she believes she has been cheated out of a trading stand at the Pan Africa Mall.
Evelyn Molahluda Sekgoala of 10th Avenue said she and her late daughter, Edith Sekgoala, both applied for rights to sell at the mall and they each paid R300 in 2008 to the Pan Africa Hawkers Association and up until now they have never been given their stands to trade.
“Edith has since died a year later after paying for her stand and according to what we were told, if a family member passes away, the stand is then re-registered in another family member who wants to takeover and continue trading. This has never happened in our case.
“My stand and that of Edith have since been allocated and other people are trading on them. If they cannot allocate us those stands, then they should pay back my money and that of Edith,” she demanded.
Sekgoala said the chairperson of the association Sello Tlou received both payments for the stands on behalf of the association and nothing has ever been communicated to them. She claims that each time she makes inquiries about the stands, she is told to wait as more stands will soon be available and they will both be allocated their trading spaces. “This has been going on for a very long time now and I have lost all hope of ever getting the stands. All I want now is a refund of money and that of my daughter,” she said.
Sekgoala has reference numbers for both cases to prove her claim and they have been handed to Alex News as well.
When approached by the Alex news team on the allegations made by Sekgoala, the chairperson of association, Tlou denied ever receiving the money from both women. “I only remember Edith paying around R120 as a joining fee for the association.”
Tlou claimed that reference numbers meant nothing if they are not accompanied by receipts. “People should not expect favouritism because we happen to know each other,” Tlou said.
He said the association had initially wanted to get stands for 340 people but in the end only 75 stands were available, as most of the plans of the association were made before a certificate was obtained.
A source that preferred not to be mentioned confided in Alex News that many people have been complaining about paying money to the association in pretext that they would be givens trading stands. “This has not happened and they come everyday to complain,” the source alleged.
Tlou himself is said to own a stand in the taxi rank and claims the association was no longer operational.
