Informal traders must work hard to make a living
Locals have recently noticed a decrease in the number of informal traders on Dr Enos Mabuza Drive. Nelspruit Post has looked into the matter and obtained comment from both the traders and the municipality. The entrepreneurs say they obtained permission to sell their goods from different locations along the busy road.
In recent weeks informal traders were removed from certain locations along this street by the Mbombela Local Municipality’s (MLM) by-law enforcement unit. According to Mr Joseph Ngala, spokesman for MLM, “The reason for their removal was that they were trading on a road reserve which is in contravention of the Road Traffic Act.” The informal traders have since been accommodated in the flea-market area opposite Lowveld High School, he says.
Street vendor Mr Kelvin Mamutse says it took three years for him to be issued with a permit by MLM to sell his merchandise at the corner of Dr Enos Mabuza and Aurora drives. Mamutse, who is originally from Zimbabwe, was granted his one in February. Fortunately, his wife earned enough to keep them both afloat while he was unable to bring in an income. Mamutse is grateful that he can trade legally now even though his previous location at the busy Westend Shopping Centre was more lucrative.
“Business is slow here where I am permitted to sell but my life in Zimbabwe was also very difficult. There was no work there. I came to Mbombela to try and find a job and save some money,” he says.
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Mr Phineas Nkwana advertises his painting skills near where he sells wood and brooms. He says he managed to obtain a permit from the civic centre in April to trade at the bus stop across from Westend. Although he could not produce a copy of his permit, he tells Nelspruit Post about the conditions of the permit; he must keep the area clean and tidy and ready for inspection by the by-law enforcement unit which he says comes to check up on him regularly.
“I get here at 06:00 to clean my area. If people walk past and throw rubbish on the ground, I call them back and show them the rubbish bins. They must not make my place dirty,” Nkwana says.
Ms Martie Pienaar sets up her vegetable and fruit stall at the intersection of Belladonna Road and Dr Enos Mabuza Drive. She and her husband travel far and wide to collect and sell their fresh produce. It has taken them six years to obtain a permit for this specific location but Pienaar says they have been chased away from many other places before.
“We just try to make a living and we work very hard to do so. If the by-law enforcement unit finds you without a permit, they confiscate all your fresh produce. That is the worst part because you lose a lot of money,” Pienaar says.
Every morning Ms Flakie Sigawule from Mataffin pushes her wheelbarrow to sell fruit at the Lydenburg Road but is never sure if she will return home with money. According to Sigawule, officials from MLM would sometimes come to their selling station and confiscate their stock. “They just come and take what we are selling and I am sure they sell it or use it for themselves; it affects our business,” she says.
When the paper recently visited the area, Ms Sigawule was the only one selling. She says her friends lost interest due to the fact that officials confiscated their stock. “I told myself that I won’t move here, they better take everything I have,” she adds. Ms Sigawule supports her four children with the profits she makes from the sales. “This is my only source of income and if I stop selling we will starve to death with my children.”
The 28-year-old vendor tells Nelspruit Post that MLM officials told them they have to secure space at the selling stalls at the N4 after Mbombela Stadium, but they cannot afford that. “We do not make a lot from the sales. On a lucky day you I go home with R50 but that is not enough,” she laments.
Also read: Municipality starts cataloguing informal traders
According to Mr Ngala, hawkers are supposed to apply for trading licences from the municipality in order to practice within the rule of law. “The municipality offers trading licences to them, this is according to the municipality by-laws,” he says.
Although Ms Sigawule agrees she is breaking the by-laws by operating in the area, she tells Nelspruit Post that hiring a stall is expensive for starting hawkers like herself.
