Cape Town - The City has upset informal traders operating at Cape Town Stadium. Over the weekend, it emerged that the City stopped them from operating because of a PSL football game on Sunday.
According to the City, the soccer game at the stadium, scheduled to start in the afternoon, required the informal traders’ area to allow for parking.
The future of the traders now hangs in the balance after it was agreed that the market would not operate on event days.
Chairperson of the Cape Town Stadium Market Rosheda Muller said: “We are having a meeting with the council today to decide whether we will be operating this coming Sunday or not. We do not like the way they are treating us and we won’t stand for it.”
Muller said the traders were informed about the soccer game on New Year’s Eve, giving them little time to make alternative arrangements.
“Traders have been stocking up with consumables, food and stock for the first Sunday of 2020, anticipating another great trading day. To deny them trading will result in monetary losses, particularly for the food traders,” she said.
The Cape Town Stadium Market reopened last month. After a lapse of 10 years, traders celebrated their return to the area from which they were evicted in 2009 to accommodate the building of the stadium for the 2010 World Cup. On Sunday, law enforcement was on high alert outside the Green Point Athletics Stadium, where a handful of traders picketed to voice their anger.
There are about 14000 informal traders throughout the city, of which 4837 are registered with the City.
The informal economy contributes more than R200 million per annum to the economy.
Mayco Member for Urban Management Grant Twigg told the Cape Argus that the trader organisations were aware that the market would not operate on event days, as communicated with them. Twigg said this condition was part of the trading plan, and was agreed to by all parties.
“Traders were informed on December 30, 2019. This was reasonable notice as they were already aware that they would not be allowed to trade on event days, as agreed to by all parties.The City had an obligation to call back the historical traders of the Green Point Market and secure a suitable trading site within the Urban Park.
“The agreed to terms and conditions of the market was that trading will not take place on event days,” he said.
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