There are no clear guidelines on how to manage informal trade in Free State municipalities, the SA Local Government Association (Salga) said on Thursday.
“How should they respond to hawkers?” Salga Free State economic development spokesman Tiisetso Makhele asked at the Free State informal trade summit in Bloemfontein.
Although local municipalities did not see informal traders as a problem, some had found dealing with informal traders was not easy.
Makhele said each municipality reacted differently towards informal traders, mostly through law enforcement action. Instead, they could work together with traders to ensure there was co-operation between the government and the sector.
Makhele said municipalities could not ignore informal traders anymore.
“They will always be there in that little corner selling their things.”
Unity in the sector would also be discussed.
Streetnet spokeswoman Pat Horn said many informal trade policy initiatives existed in South African municipalities, but there had been lack of continuity in handling and implementing them. Streetnet works with informal traders worldwide.
Horn said many local government economic development plans did not provide an effective consultation mechanism for so-called second-economy operators. She said representation and unity among local informal traders had been difficult.
There was, however, consensus on the need for a strong, independent representative organisation, said Horn.
Makhele said studies had shown some Free State informal trade sectors were lucrative. It was estimated that some informal traders in the Mangaung area were able to earn almost R500 million a year.
“So, it is a very lucrative market, but the problem is it’s not managed properly, so we found it difficult to find out how much money was really in it,” he said.
The summit ends on Friday. – Sapa