eTHEKWINI Municipality has planned a series of consultative meetings in all zones throughout the metro to provide informal traders a chance to comment on proposed bylaws pertaining to informal traders.
Municipal spokesman, Thabo Mofekeng said the municipality was currently reviewing its by-laws through the rationalisation of the by-law project. The Informal Trading and Retail Markets bylaws have been drafted which will be passed into the new law once the informal traders and other relevant stakeholders have been given an opportunity to make inputs and comments.
Senior Manager of Informal Trade in the Business Support, Tourism and Markets Unit, Michael Hlangu said that prioritising consultation was important because a majority of participants in the informal trading sector were there because they are poor and operate at a survivalist level. “They need to be assisted by local government and be given sufficient recognition as important economic players,” he said.
“It is evident the informal economy is playing a major role in boosting the economy. This is the reason for the success of the overall economy of eThekwini and the informal sector can no longer be considered as a temporary phenomenon. The situation is therefore that the informal economy is continuously increasing in most developing countries, even in towns such as Isipingo and other areas,” said Hlangu.
He said the meetings confirmed the Municipality’s commitment to providing entrepreneurs with a platform to engage in informal trading while informing them of the rules of compliance that fall under the by-laws so that trading is conducted in an orderly manner.
Once all relevant stakeholders’ input has been collated, the by-laws will be presented to a full council meeting for adoption.
