Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) is issuing temporary trading permits for businesses, SMMEs and informal traders. According to Themba Sibiya, communications manager of TCLM, it is inviting formal and informal businesses that qualify, to apply for temporary trading permits to operate during the Covid-19 coronaviris lockdown period.

“Government has gazetted further amendments to the regulations on Covid-19 lockdown in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002. In terms of paragraph 5 of part B, the municipality is required to provide written permission for the following categories of business to operate for the duration of the lockdown: grocery stores and wholesale produce markets, including spaza shops and informal food traders.

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“The application for temporary operational permit is only open to approved and qualifying spaza shops in terms of the Thaba Chweu Land Use Scheme (2018) and the information trading by-law (2019). “It is critical that all applications must be accompanied by a valid trading license from the municipality, ID copy, mitigating factors to curb the spread of Covid-19 and the filled out application for.

“The temporary permits are only for the existing traders that comply with the requirements per business category and wishing to trade during the lockdown. No new applications will be considered for this period. Traders who will be granted the temporary permit are expected to comply with the health and safety regulations for the prevention of the spread of Covid-19. No selling of cooked food will be permitted during the lockdown.”

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Sibiya added that TCLM wishes to urge the qualifying traders to make use of the electronic application option in order to observe the social distance practice to flatten the infection curve. Applications can be made electronically via email from April 6. Applicants must request a zoning certificate from the manager spatial planning and land use management,Trevor Rikhotso at Trevor.

Rikhotso@tclm.gov.za or 084-297-7787. Application forms can also be requested from the LED manager, Monty Mathebula at Monty.Mathebula@tclm.gov.za or on 078- 005-1996.