GCC evicts Gabs street vendors
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Thursday March 13, 2014 17:39
One of the street vendors, Masego Rapekenene, said they were called to the council on Monday where GCC officers told them not to return to their usual selling spots. They were warned that failure to comply would lead to the council confiscating their goods and trucks. She said that it was not the first time that GCC banned them from selling at the bus rank parking lots.
A heartbroken Rapekenene said that she has been a street vendor for 45 years. She expressed her disappointment in the council, accusing the officers of being disrespectful. She said that the officials never bothered to hold meetings with the committee, they suggested should be established. Rapekenene said that council has not allocated them a place to do business.
Treasurer at Thusang Bagwebi Association, a street vendors committee, Mmolotsi Ramphuti revealed that they were surprised to learn that by-law officers closed down stalls without their consent.
He said that they were still negotiating on recovering the goods that the council confiscated last December. He said that what surprised them the most is that the council had shown interest in working well with the committee to reach a resolution.
Furthermore, Ramphuti said that they were surprised when some of the street vendors approached the committee telling them that they were given letters at the beginning of February. In the letters they were told to vacate the lot by February 28, 2014.
Furthermore, Ramphuti accused Assistant Minister of Local Government, Botlhogile Tshireletso of lying when she recently announced that they had resolved issues with street vendors. He called on the minister to hold a meeting with street vendors.
One of the committee members who was taken to Borakanelo Police Station, Mmoloki Motsise said that by-law officers failed to cooperate with vendors from day one.
The same disappointment could be seen on the face of committee chairperson Kagiso Mosupane. Mosupane said that government neglects street vendors though it knows that there is a great shortage of jobs and a high poverty rate in Botswana. He said the government seems to be enjoying seeing people living poorly.
'I am very surprised that the government established poverty eradication programmes, but urges us in the opposite direction. We are used to making our own money, as most of us here did not find jobs. Some of the people here are educated but they decided to make a living by selling instead of folding their hands doing nothing,' he said.
He said that in the previous years they moved from one place to the other being promised a market place where they would rent and sell their products. Later they were disappointed when the council rented it to other people telling them to apply like everyone else, he said. He added that the other market place opposite Borakanelo Police and Shoppers complex was sold to a private company as it had a lot of money.
Council officials refused to talk to Mmegi referring them to the GCC public relation office. Efforts to get hold of public relations office were futile at the time of going to press.