FCC suspends Ntshe vendors relocation
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday April 24, 2023 06:00
Surprisingly the same leadership rejected Nominated Councillor, Otsile Moses' plea to table an urgent motion to stop the relocation of the vendors citing that he did not follow the procedure as per the council standing orders.
On March 24, FCC issued a notice to vendors trading around Ntshe house to relocate to Tebo house behind First National Bank (FNB) and bus rank respectively as part of temporarily decongesting the area.
In a recent interview, FCC deputy mayor Lesego Kwambala said they have temporarily halted the decision to relocate vendors pending refurbishment of the area the vendors would be alternatively moved to.
Despite what the city deputy mayor is saying, the council has reportedly to have bowed down to councillors who fear replication of moving the vendors from Ntshe house area.
According to Kwambala, the Local Economic Development (LED) committee was recently allocated a budget of P900, 000 of which the bulk of the money will be used under the Informal Sector Strategy. Kwambala said that the LED committee will be expected to come up with a plan on how they are going to implement the local economic development plan for the informal sector growth.
“Revamping the chosen alternative relocation areas as the informal sector strategy will be prioritized. The informal sector strategy development will deal with issues of standard, branding and capacity building for the informal sector. Having a standardised and controlled informal business would make the city more appealing,” the city deputy mayor added.
He said that the committee was tasked to deal with the matter urgently so that it can be rolled back to the community and vendors in preparation for their relocation. Kwambala encouraged the street traders to use the opportunity to apply and renew their trading licenses.
In a previous interview the deputy mayor believed that the issues relating to relocating the vendors was misinterpreted.He said that the relocation was only temporary so that they can decongest the area to make it look more appealing. Kwambala indicated that some of the traders were to be relocated to bus rank and behind Tebo house whereas a selected number with the same operational standards would be moved back to Ntshe House area.
According to the city deputy mayor, most of the vendors are unlicensed because so far only six have trading licences.
Ntshe House currently hosts informal traders with different business concepts from manicure, pedicure, food, oil perfumes, clothing, food and others. Ntshe House currently hosts informal traders with different business concepts from manicure ,pedicure , food,oil perfumes,clothing,food and others.