Ward 90 councillor Renate van Onselen questions long-term efficacy of Illovo service operations

Ward 90 councillor Renate van Onselen has questioned the effectiveness of high-intensity service delivery operations following the quick return of informal traders and homeless people to an Illovo intersection.

The operation took place on September 8 at the intersection of Oxford Road, Hurlingham Road and North Road, where the municipality sought to address informal trading without the required permits and the presence of homeless people.

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However, during a visit with the Sandton Chronicle to the area on September 30, informal traders were back in their previous spots, while a homeless person living outside a property on Oxford Road was again occupying a driveway.

Van Onselen questioned whether the resources invested in these operations were producing lasting results, arguing that the temporary clearing of pavements did little to resolve the underlying issues.

“As you can see, it’s not even a month, the informal trader behind me is back, the one across the road is back, and one of the homeless people that have been living on bumpers now for a long time is also back in the driveway,” she said.

“To my mind, it takes a lot of time and resources, but there’s no focus on the actual outcome of the operation.

So, for one day, people are moved away, the pavements are clear, everybody seems happy, but five minutes later, everybody is back.”

Sustained outcomes needed

Van Onselen said the city needed to move beyond measuring success by the number of operations conducted and instead assess whether the interventions had achieved sustainable outcomes.

She questioned how the city’s homelessness policy, social development department, outreach programmes and available shelters were being used to address the circumstances that brought people onto the streets.

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“What I, as a councillor, want to understand, is what the measurable outcomes of these high-intensity service delivery operations have been. Moving a homeless person from one pavement to another does not constitute a social development intervention.

We need to understand why that person is there, what assistance is available, and whether the intervention has actually made any difference to their circumstances.”

She also acknowledged that informal traders were trying to earn a living, arguing that enforcement should be accompanied by practical opportunities to trade lawfully.

“Confiscating an informal trader’s goods does not remove their need to earn a living. We should be regulating informal trading, not pretending we can eradicate it through confiscation exercises,” she said.

Van Onselen called on the city to create a workable route to lawful trading while ensuring that established rules were consistently enforced. “A law that is enforced once a month, but ignored for the remaining 29 days, is hardly an effective deterrent. What appears to be missing is sustained implementation, co-ordination and accountability.”

Legal precedents highlighted

Van Onselen added that in Ngomane and Others v City of Johannesburg (2019), the Supreme Court of Appeal found that the confiscation and destruction of homeless people’s possessions during a clean-up operation was unconstitutional and unlawful, and compensation was awarded.

“The Constitutional Court ruled against Johannesburg in the 2014 South African Informal Traders Forum matter after the city unlawfully removed traders during Operation Clean Sweep. The relevant statutory processes had not been followed.”

These case underscores the importance of lawful procedures when the city conducts operations involving homeless people and informal traders.

The Sandton Chronicle sent a media enquiry to city spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane on September 30, seeking clarity on the objectives of high-intensity service delivery operations, the measures used to sustain their outcomes and the follow-up support provided to homeless people.

The enquiry also asked whether the city conducts post-operation assessments, what its evaluation of the September 8 operation had found and what further interventions were planned for the Illovo area.

At the time of publication, on October 14, no response had been received from the city, despite follow ups. The article will be updated should a response become available.

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