Wynberg traders’ woes compound with no solution in sight
ALEXANDRA – Their complaints continue to compound and increase their losses after failed meetings and unfulfilled promises by the authorities.
Business owners at Freedom Shopping Centre on Watt Street, Wynberg, feel betrayed and abandoned by their councillor and council agencies.
Their complaints continue to compound and increase their losses after failed meetings and unfulfilled promises by the authorities.
Shop owner Vernon Moodley of KwaZulu-Natal Muti, who complained to the Alex News last year in May in Newly constructed cycle lane leaves motorists stranded, said recently that they still don’t have parking bays which were replaced by an unused cycle lane developed by the council.
“The lane which stretches the length of the block is unconnected to either side of the block leading towards Alex and Sandton and is crowded with legal and illegal hawkers who block access to our shops. “Metro cops also clamp our vehicles and delivery trucks parked along the street.”
Moodley, a police reservist, added that despite the reservist card he places inside the windscreen of his vehicle, they still issued him tickets. “They tell us to park elsewhere or at Pan Africa Mall parking lot across the road where vehicles left for long are ticketed or clamped.
“This is despite the lane having been developed without consultation.”
He added that promises made at security cluster meetings and on the radio by councillor Jeffrey Pietersen, Metro and SAPS officers have been fruitless. “Besides the ticketing, hawkers also stretch our vehicles with their carts.
“They also sell profitable festive season firecrackers which are in demand while blocking our front doors. They do so without licences, which are costly for registered businesses and controlled by stringent regulations.”
He said they were forced to chase away the hawkers at risk to their own safety from 10 December to Christmas Eve when the demand for the crackers will be high. “This is in order to protect our business rights and avoid huge losses and throwing away thousands of rands worth of unsold crackers which will be worthless after the festive season.”
Moodley added that power outages he attributed to the development of the BRT transport network also compounded their problems. “We suffer heavy losses from spoiled perishable foods, pilfering and also armed robberies which have resulted in injuries to shop owners.
“We are also forced to trade through long-term leases and the profit potential is only if law enforcement officers enforced by-laws supported by the councillor ensuring an enabling environment for business operators.”
While acknowledging the problems, councillor Pietersen urged the complainants to submit the concerns in writing to enable easy follow-up between him and them.
He said he would raise the parking concern with the Johannesburg Roads Agency and the parking issue with the Metro police. “Agreements on parking for tenant businesses are usually the responsibility of their shopping centre management,” he said, adding that the adjoining 2nd Street has been repaired and expanded enabling delivery trucks to park properly to avoid being ticketed and causing traffic congestion.
Alexandra Police Station spokesperson Captain Stephen Malatji urged the complainant to approach Metro police on issues of by-law enforcement and the police station for any criminal incidents. “We can only investigate where there is tangible evidence to ensure successful prosecutions.
Metro police spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar urged them to approach the Metro management at their Marlboro station with thorough details of their complaint. “Follow-ups require details to enable thorough investigation,” Minnaar said.
