The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs issued amended Covid-19 regulations on April 2 which make provision for grocery stores, wholesale produce market, including spaza shops and informal traders to trade during the current lockdown.
In terms of the amended Covid-19 regulations, the informal traders must operate on condition that they have written permission from the local authority.
In light of the above, the informal traders and spaza shop owners will have to apply for temporary trading permission in terms of the Disaster Management Act No 57 of 2002.
The temporary trading permission will apply for the duration of the declared lockdown and only issued to the current legal hawking permit holders issued by the Ekurhuleni metro in terms of the Business Act No 71 of 1991.
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Spaza shops, however, that do not have trading licences or permissions as envisaged in the Business Act shall be granted a temporary reprieve through the issuance of trading permission that will apply for the duration of the declared lockdown on condition that the application is supported by the relevant stakeholders.
The metro will give sanitisers, gloves and masks to traders of processed and unprocessed food products whose applications are granted.
These will be given on a first come, first serve basis.
Applications for the temporary trading permissions opens from noon to 4pm on April 6, and from 9am to 4pm weekdays henceforth.
Temporary trading permission issuance process
The metro has put in place the following procedure that informal traders must adhere to in order to be issued with the temporary trading permissions:
Step 1:
Applicants can download the form on the metro’s website or collect the temporary trading permission application forms at the nearest Customer Care Centre (CCC).
Step 2:
Applicants must complete the application form fully and attach a certified copy of the current trading permission (where applicable) that was issued by the metro and other required documentation.
Step 3:
Applicants must secure a letter of support from a ward councillor or CCC manager where the business operates to confirm their residential and business address which shall form part of the final evaluation and approval condition.
Step 4:
Applicants must submit their applications at their nearest CCC manager’s office wherein a reference number will be issued.
Step 5:
All compliant applications will be issued with a temporary trading permission within 24 hours of submitting their application.
Step 6:
Applicants will receive a text message to collect the temporary trading permission at their nearest CCC manager’s office.
All successful temporary trading permission holders are required to carry and/or display their original temporary permissions at all times.
