Illegal roadside structures and hawkers soon to be removed
The tents, umbrellas and illegal structures lining the roads will soon be cleaned up thanks to a campaign by local municipal officials and business people. These structures have long been an eyesore throughout Hazyview and a detriment to the town's status as a tourism destination.
Many community members have complained that sidewalks in town cannot be used by pedestrians due to the abundance of hawker tables and tents and the whole area is a veritable fire hazard due to many hawkers not meeting health and safety standards. These structures and the prescence of hawkers have also been damaging to the infrastructure like drainpipes, cables, sidewalks and the road surface. After various meetings over the last few months, a team has been formed to drive the campaign and ways to peacefully resolve the situation was discussed. It was agreed that it should be approached with care to avoid demonstrations by angry hawkers and to educate the traders on the process.
To be able to trade in Hazyview, hawkers will have to go through a registration process and they will be given specific locations where they are allowed to trade. Illegally-situated hawkers, as well as those who don’t comply with health regulations, will be removed.
Registration is set to take place over the next month, whereafter illegal traders in the CBD will be evicted and then the process will be repeated in other areas of the town. This will all take place in terms of the Mbombela Municipality bylaws and will follow similar sweep-ups in Mbombela. Traffic and police officials also attended several meetings and the policing of new locations and enforcement of the licensing system, once it is in place was discussed.
According to Chris Harvie of the Hazyview Chamber of Business and Tourism, over 300 applications for stalls have been received, so the process may prove quite a challenge for those in charge. The process to allocate spots for these hawkers have already started and the next step will be to work out where to accommodate the overflow.
The plan is to give certain areas to hawkers that provide certain services, such as hairdressors, fruit vendors and informal restaurants. The restaurants will be strictly monitored to ensure that all health and safety regulations are followed.
Hawkers can apply for a license by visiting the Hazyview Civic Centre and making contact with Building Inspector Jerry Nxumalo, Evelyn Khosa of the health department or Elvis Ngomane, the HCBT’s liaison officer, at the police station.
