As much as the city authorities have a duty to maintain the cleanliness of the city, which they claim is the reason behind their action, they have a greater duty to maintain and promote the rights of citizens to make a living, especially those vulnerable and marginalised by the growtheconomy.
There is no doubt that informal traders are simply trying to eke out a living for themselves and their families, as honestly as their means could carry them. They never start off the day to be a nuisanceto anybody, including the public authorities and big
business. These are individuals who could not be absorbed into the mainstream job market. For them to escape poverty, they have found an alternative route to fend for themselves in the informal economy. In the absence of a comprehensive social security system, they are not being a burden to the state or to their extended families (in the African setting). Perhaps the only other option left for them would be to resort to crime to make ends meet. Otherwise they would wallow in abject poverty until death finds them.
