Luzuko Pongoma

Street traders around Johannesburg are still not happy with the municipality after it failed to put a moratorium on metro police impounding their stock.

On Tuesday more than 100 leaders of traders around the city gathered at the municipal offices in Braamfontein for a meeting with officials.

Edmund Elias, spokesperson for the SA National Traders Association on Street Traders, said though the meeting formed three sub-committees, it was still a failure.

Elias said the city formed a by-law enforcement, technical and mananagent sub-committees to find a way to deal with the challenges traders faced. “This is all fruitless if there is no moratorium because police will continue to harass traders.”

Robinson Botlhale, 52, said he was losing money as he had to run whenever police came with their trucks. “Since January I have lost stock more than twice and it is hard to get it back because the fines cost more than the impounded stock.”

Botlhale, a father of eight children, said the conditions he worked under were making it hard for him to support his family.

luzukop@thenewage.co.za