Informal traders at power servitude a longstanding issue – CoE
“The most recent operation, held in August, was a combined exercise conducted by the EMPD with the assistance of by-law and land invasion units.”
According to the City of Ekurhuleni, it is aware of and has conducted several operations with the assistance of the EMPD in an attempt to remove informal traders from a power servitude located on the corner of Aitken Road and Van Riebeeck Avenue.
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Ward 19 Clr Alderman Bill Rundle recently raised concerns regarding the activity of informal traders and vagrants living on and making use of a piece of land he has identified as the City of Johannesburg’s and Eskom’s power servitude.
Besides his concerns about the activities of the traders and those living on the servitude, Rundle said the pavements along Aitken Road and Van Riebeeck Avenue are being damaged by motorists who interact with the traders.
He said the interaction between motorists and traders has caused significant soil erosion.
Although Rundle told the NEWS that the problem of informal traders at the location has been a problem since 2011, the city informed the publication that this problem dates back to 2017.
CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said although the servitude is the responsibility of City Power when the CoE manages to remove some of the individuals from the location, they return after some time.
“Previously, they were all removed and their goods confiscated; however, they return over time. At the moment, it is only some of the traders that sleep among their goods.”
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Dlamini said no shacks are on the site and that the traders sleep under shelters made of plastic.
He said several clean-up operations were previously conducted and goods were confiscated.
“The most recent operation, held in August, was a combined exercise conducted by the EMPD with the assistance of by-law and land invasion units,” said Dlamini.
“Three trucks removed over five tons of goods that are still in storage in Kempton Park.”
Dlamini said the traders opt not to collect the goods as the fines are normally higher than the value of the goods.
“This and other areas adjacent to the servitude are declared no trading zones,” highlighted Dlamini.
“It is very dangerous to do business or reside under overhead power lines as it could snap and claim lives.”
Dlamini said EMPD does conduct patrols of the servitude weekly to check for illegal dumping and possible vagrants.
Speaking about the challenges when addressing this problem, Dlamini said a major challenge is the availability of suitable vehicles to address the matter regularly.
“A front-end loader is needed to clean up the area and remove all materials used to manufacture goods on-site,” explained Dlamini.
He said this will allow the location to be kept clean.
Dlamini said because the storage facilities for confiscated goods are located in Kempton Park, EMPD Edenvale needs to have daily access to a three-ton truck to clean this and other sites.
“The city will be coordinating all relevant departments to see how best this issue is addressed permanently.”
Dlamini said to restrict access to the servitude, the entire area needs to be fenced off.
Addressing Rundle’s concerns of the pavements being eroded, Dlamini said there are no pavements at the location.
“The road surface ends and then there is soil on the undeveloped verge.”
Although soil erosion was not identified by the EMPD, Dlamini said this matter will be brought to the Roads Department’s attention for further investigation.
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