Small businesses chased away at softball tourney
Imi Mokgethi | Thursday July 21, 2016 09:45
Speaking to Mmegi Business on the last day of the three-day event held over the President’s Day holidays, the concerned entrepreneurs narrated how they were denied an opportunity sell their goods as they were deemed to be illegal sellers.
“This came as a surprise to us as we are used to just coming and setting up our stalls, and pay P100 without any prior registration,” said one of the sellers.
She said they were told that only 10 stalls were allocated to some business operators for a P600 fee, something she said did not “make sense” as it was never announced publicly.
“They failed to tell us this whole new arrangement so that we too can pay and sell freely. As a result, we resorted to hide behind people’s cars during the day and at night to sell our products.
But this did not help as we did not get many customers and we made a huge loss,” added another vendor.
In addition, the business owners pleaded with the local organising committee to announce publicly on all possible forms of communication and state on time the selling arrangement for next year’s tournament.
They further suggested that the P600 stall fees should be reviewed, stating that it is expensive especially for vendors who do not sell cooked food.
In his response to the concerns, the tournament’s director Lebofanye Kenosi explained that the decision to allocate only 10 stalls and one for the under-privileged came as an effort to address the overcrowding of sellers that they experienced in the past tourneys.
He highlighted that they are mandated to support and empower all local small, medium and micro enterprises.
Kenosi however noted that they publicly announced the selling of stalls, which were allocated on a first come first served basis.
“I apologise for the inconvenience caused to those concerned business operators by our new arrangement.
We will take into consideration all their concerns and suggestions to rectify the situation and see how we could better serve them in future,” said Kenosi.
Meanwhile, some sellers who were allocated the stalls stated that they made significant profits during the course of the tournament.
They said this year many teams did not cater for themselves and bought food from them, a thing that should be encouraged.
They further suggested to the relevant authorities to improve security around the tournament area.
Taxi operators also revealed that they made a fortune from the tournament as spectators used their services.
They however noted that illegal taxi operators, popularly known in the area as bo machandisa, continue to compete for customers with them despite their efforts to work with the police.
They called on all stakeholders to come up with effective measures to address the situation.
Meanwhile, the area Station Commander, Victor Nlebesi applauded the spectators for their good conduct during the event, saying they did not record any major offences, apart from one incident where a man was stabbed with a sharp instrument.
He further said they will consult with the tournament organisers to come up with measures to deal with the traffic situation at the main ground, which might compromise the safety of the attendants.