Informal traders are complaining that Emnambithi/Ladysmith Municipality has removed all their businesses from Lyell Street and provided them with no alternative area in which to operate.
The municipality evidently said that only the hairdressers would be removed from the area, but instead all the informal traders were “kicked out”.
Some of the hawkers complain that they legitimately rented the area from the municipality and yet their businesses were still “destroyed”.
IFP district publicity secretary Mr Thula Sizwe Khumalo says he’s deeply disappointed with the way in which informal traders are treated in this town.
“Most towns and cities in the country have informal traders and there is no problem, so why do things like this have to happen in Ladysmith?” complained Mr Khumalo.
He adds that taxis in the area should first be moved to the new taxi rank in Forbes Street before the informal traders are moved, because their business comes from people who use taxis on a daily basis. Furthermore, he says the taxi rank in Forbes Street is not in a great area and if it rains heavily, the dam won’t help and the area will be flooded.
At the time of going to press, the municipality had not commented on the matter.
