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.
On this note, the municipality has planned a series of consultative meetings, which will take place in all the zones in the eThekwini area until the end of November. These meetings will provide informal traders a chance to comment and make inputs to the proposed bylaws.
Senior Manager of Informal Trade in the Business Support, Tourism and Markets Unit, Michael Hlangu said that prioritising consultation is important, because most participants in the informal trading sector are there because they are poor and operate at a survival level.
They need to be assisted by local government and be given sufficient recognition as important economic players.
“It is evident that 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.
These meetings confirm 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 bylaws so that trading is conducted in an orderly manner.
Once all relevant stakeholders’ input has been collated, the bylaws will be presented to a full council meeting for adoption, thereafter they will be effected in three months’ time, after consultations are completed.
