ActionSA has written to the Chief Executive Officer of Joburg Market SOC Ltd and the Executive Director of the City of Johannesburg’s Department of Economic Development to demand accountability and transparency regarding the allocation of trading stalls and the administration of informal trading permits across the City of Joburg.
Our intervention follows concerns raised by South African long-standing informal traders at various city managed stalls who, despite having operated for over a decade, continue to earn a living solely from tips while foreign nationals lease stalls and hire undocumented labour at low wages. There are also growing complaints from South African residents who have applied for permits or registration to operate legally but have received little to no feedback from the city.
The City of Johannesburg adopted its Informal Trading Policy in 2022, under the leadership of then ActionSA MMC for Economic Development, Nkuli Mbundu and in the absence and disruption of the current administration. This policy, which had been stalled for over five years, was finally passed to prioritise South Africans, restore order to trading spaces, and ensure fair and legal economic participation.
At the time, ActionSA was repeatedly attacked and labelled xenophobic by members of the current administration when our MMC for Economic Development, along with the MMCs for Public Safety, David Tembe and Transport, Funzi Ngobeni MPL sought to enforce the law. Today, the same administration that criticised us is using the very same policy passed under ActionSA’s leadership to address issues it once dismissed as unnecessary.
This development vindicates ActionSA’s principled stance that our fight has always been about upholding the law, protecting the rights of South Africans, and creating an environment where legitimate businesses can thrive.
Through our representation in the Economic Development Section 79 Committee, ActionSA will use these letters as part of a broader oversight intervention to ensure that allocation processes are transparent, that South Africans are not sidelined in their own economy, and that the Informal Trading Policy is implemented fully and fairly.
In line with our #Spaza4Locals initiative, ActionSA remains committed to standing with South African informal traders and spaza owners, ensuring they benefit from the very policies designed to support them.
ActionSA Holds City Leadership Accountable on Informal Trading Allocation and Enforcement of the Mbundu Policy
ActionSA has written to the Chief Executive Officer of Joburg Market SOC Ltd and the Executive Director of the City of Johannesburg’s Department of Economic Development to demand accountability and transparency regarding the allocation of trading stalls and the administration of informal trading permits across the City of Joburg.
Our intervention follows concerns raised by South African long-standing informal traders at various city managed stalls who, despite having operated for over a decade, continue to earn a living solely from tips while foreign nationals lease stalls and hire undocumented labour at low wages. There are also growing complaints from South African residents who have applied for permits or registration to operate legally but have received little to no feedback from the city.
The City of Johannesburg adopted its Informal Trading Policy in 2022, under the leadership of then ActionSA MMC for Economic Development, Nkuli Mbundu and in the absence and disruption of the current administration. This policy, which had been stalled for over five years, was finally passed to prioritise South Africans, restore order to trading spaces, and ensure fair and legal economic participation.
At the time, ActionSA was repeatedly attacked and labelled xenophobic by members of the current administration when our MMC for Economic Development, along with the MMCs for Public Safety, David Tembe and Transport, Funzi Ngobeni MPL sought to enforce the law. Today, the same administration that criticised us is using the very same policy passed under ActionSA’s leadership to address issues it once dismissed as unnecessary.
This development vindicates ActionSA’s principled stance that our fight has always been about upholding the law, protecting the rights of South Africans, and creating an environment where legitimate businesses can thrive.
Through our representation in the Economic Development Section 79 Committee, ActionSA will use these letters as part of a broader oversight intervention to ensure that allocation processes are transparent, that South Africans are not sidelined in their own economy, and that the Informal Trading Policy is implemented fully and fairly.
In line with our #Spaza4Locals initiative, ActionSA remains committed to standing with South African informal traders and spaza owners, ensuring they benefit from the very policies designed to support them.