Cape Town - Informal traders are back at work in the CBD after being granted permission to resume business by the court.
The Legal Resources Centre filed an urgent application on behalf of the United Traders Association, calling for vendors to reopen stalls at the Grand Parade.
Spokesperson Thabo Ramphobole said: “The City of Cape Town and the Grand Parade informal traders settled that the informal traders were not defined as a 'flea market', and were therefore, in fact, allowed to trade under lockdown level 4.
“However, on Monday, June 1, the City did not allow the Grand Parade informal traders to trade. Shortly after denying our clients access to the Grand Parade, the City wrote to the centre imposing restrictions on the number of traders, changing the locations of where the traders would normally trade, and the times at which they could trade.
"These restrictions were immediately contested by the LRC and, following two days of back and forth negotiations, the City has acceded that our clients can return to their designated areas for trading during normal working hours.”
Mayco member for Urban Management Grant Twigg said: “During the entire lockdown period the traders have experienced tough economic times. During this pandemic our main drive as a caring City is to save lives and balance this with our citizens' ability to generate income.
"Over the past week we have been making every effort to ensure the informal traders at the Grand Parade could resume trading, after clarifying the ‘flea markets’ matter with the national government.
"The City will be engaging with all traders and their representatives ... to help reduce the spread of Covid-19.”