Polokwane hawkers in the spotlight

Residents and regular passersby in the vicinity of the Rethabile Family Health Centre in Magazyn Street are concerned about the circumstances under which a group of hawkers prepare and sell food and drinks to patients en route to the facilities offered by the clinic just opposite the road. There are also no toilet facilities provided for the vendors and their customers.

Social distancing is not observed and food wrappings and containers are merely disposed of on the pavement and in the street.

“Rethabile Clinic shows a negative image to the public and the world passing by. Informal traders operating in less than sanitary conditions serve various foods and drinks, often prepared on basic fires and in receptacles which are not cleaned as there is no facility available to provide water and electricity, enabling a clean environment to prevail,” a Magazyn Street resident, Bruce Phillips said.

He pointed out that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11 refers to Sustainable Cities and Communities.

“This translates to the creation of cities which are laid out in such a way as to have, among other things, numerous green spaces easily accessible to people via clean and well maintained walkways where sidewalk cafes encourage quiet conversations and an atmosphere where both romance can flourish and business meetings over a cup of tea or coffee can occur.

There is also cycle paths to encourage and enable safe exercise and basic commuting from one section of the city to the next without the need to vehicular transport,” Phillips reckons.

According to him, Polokwane is eminently suited to being able to accept this challenge and become an example to the rest of the world.

“At present, even with the continued influx of immigrants, the city is not yet stifled with people and requires simple encouragement of informal traders who with minimal funding, would be able to upgrade and run their small opportunistic businesses profitably while the population is not impeded from moving through crowded pavements and shop fronts remain clear and visible,” he added.

“Being a medical facility and ostensibly being ‘a place of happiness’ as the Sotho name suggests, it lends itself to being available as an area of calmness, cleanliness, friendliness and yes, happiness, despite the challenges provided by Covid-19 and illnesses of other forms and varieties,” he concluded.

The Spokesperson for the Polokwane Municipality, Thipa Selala, confirmed that officials visited the site and claimed that they could not find any transgression of by-laws.

“The situation will, however, be monitored,” he said.