West Cape News (Cape Town)
Brenda Nkuna
14 August 2009
The gloomy economic situation has led to an increase in the number of street traders in Cape Town and is in some cases resulting in tensions between locals and immigrants in the competition for trading space.
City of Cape Town head of informal trading Paul Williamson said over the last four months in areas such as Wynberg, Claremont, Bellville and the CBD, the municipality had seen an increase in informal trading and an increase in inquiries from people interested in trading. He said there had also been an increase in traders trying to work at intersections.
Williamson attributed the increase to the recession. There was a high unemployment rate in the country, the cost of living was high and people were desperate to make a living, he said.
He said some people who had jobs already were now applying for permits to trade on weekends so they could supplement their income.
But a group of four women traders involved in arts and culture projects have demanded that the City of Cape Town cut down on the number of non-South African traders.
The women have called for a quota of 80% trading spaces to be run by locals, arguing that local women should be empowered.
Trader Bongiwe Nxumalo said youth were battling to get jobs because there was not enough space in the city for them to start their businesses.
Nxumalo said she was concerned that the future of many South African youth and adults would be shattered because government did not want to minimize the number of non-South African traders.
Another trader, Lunga Kope, who is also an arts and culture educator, said she was worried by the fact that many youth and women were not going to get opportunities for the 2010 World Cup.
However, Williamson said city policy did not allow any discrimination between local and immigrant traders.
South African citizens and immigrants who had work permits as well as those with refugee status were treated equally.
United Green Point Traders Alliance vice-president Lucas Usha said trading in Cape Town was "terrible" for immigrants because they were mostly threatened by locals and told to to go and trade in their "home countries".
Usha, who comes from Cameroon, said he had been trading for 15 years, and believed that immigrants had an advantage because they spoke mainly French and Portuguese, placing them at an advantage with tourists.
There also had the ability to source rare products from the rest of Africa.
"We are contributing to the economy and we pay rentals. We are not stealing anything from anyone," he said.
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