Youth Games hit hawkers in the pocket
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Monday May 26, 2014 15:29
There were only a handful of hawkers on Saturday after many of them made heavy losses on Friday as there was no anticipated crowd to buy their food.
On Saturday Vaka told The Monitor that if the hawkers are unhappy with the way the organising committee handled them the committee would consider refunding the 250 hawkers who bought the stalls for P700 and P1,250 each to trade at Notwane grounds outside the stadium for 10 days.
Furious hawkers on Saturday told The Monitor that they are disappointed that they have been made to come and sell food at the stadium while there are no games at the stadium until Wednesday this week.
The games are being played at various sporting venues around Gaborone.
The hawkers complained that when selling their stalls the BAYGOC officials withheld information about sporting activities.
Tshidi Serame, who says she made only P60 on Friday after spending P3,000 on food hoping to make a killing says she was hoodwinked into believing that she would be selling to 54 countries at the stadium, only to learn that there will be no games there for five days until Wednesday this week.
“They did not give us the fixtures for the games so we could know when to come here and when not to come. They also promised us stalls, only to put us on these open spaces where there is no privacy. They also promised us electricity and toilet facilities all of which they failed to fulfill”.
Serame says she could have made some money on opening day but the hawkers were turned back because the stalls were not yet ready until Friday.
Gertrude Lesasu another hawkers says she was unhappy that a BAYGOC official assigned to them failed to come to their rescue and instead handed them to someone else they could not trace.
“Today many hawkers failed to come because they got a bad knock yesterday; I have not come here to sell food today because I made heavy losses, I’m here to look for the BAYGOC officials to refund me my P700”.
Sarah Judah another of the food vendors is concerned that the BAYGOC officials allowed pirate street vendors to trade in the vicinity.
“There are no toilet facilities here, but yesterday the by-law officers were arresting people who were relieving themselves in the open, Judah said.
The BAYGOC chairperson however tells The Monitor that their intention was never to rob anyone