Adolf Kaure
The City of Windhoek’s manager for corporate affairs, Harold Akwenye has cautioned residents to refrain from illegal trading practices. Speaking in a recent interview, Akwenye said that the Council’s ongoing efforts to educate and inform the public about the informal trading regulations.
“The City of Windhoek continues to face challenges with individuals who knowingly choose to trade illegally. Council urges residents to familiarise themselves with the regulations and comply accordingly,” he said.
According to him, the city has taken several steps to educate and inform residents about permits, costs as well as designated zones for informal traders as well as the consequences of non-compliance.
“The City of Windhoek regularly informs residents through community meetings and engagements on the provisions of the informal trading regulations. In addition, traders found operating illegally are referred to the Economic Development Division, located on the First Floor, room 103, where they can receive detailed information on permit application procedures, approved trading sites and compliance requirements,” said Akwenye.
This comes in the light of several informal vendors who trade at the taxi rank area adjacent to Shoprite in the CBD expressing their grievances about various challenges they continuously face.
The challenges include a lengthy process in obtaining a trading permit, lack of information on the Council’s informal trading policy as well as facing constant harassment from the City Police while simply trying to make ends meet.
Call for new markets
Eunike Iigonda (45) arrived in Windhoek in 2002 when she was offered a job as a babysitter.
After experiencing setbacks in the job, she left only after one month. In 2005, she started security work until 2015. Due to having a small baby, she left the job that year after being demanded to work on nightshift.
Iigonda, who currently sells pap and different types of meat, requested the city to construct new markets. This she said would bring convenience logistically and further boost her business’ profit margins.
“I will be able to cook even from here. It will be better for me because at the moment, I cook from home and bring the food here. It will improve because we will have more stock. Some of the things can remain and I don’t have to pay extra money to transport them with taxis,” she said.
Akwenye maintained that the construction of markets for informal traders in the CBD is dependent on the availability of budgetary provisions.
“Due to competing service delivery priorities across the city, it is not always possible for Council to construct markets in every financial year,” he said.
City’s Market Development Masterplan
When the City of Windhoek was originally designed, informal trading was not adequately catered for.
Akwenye revealed that the city is currently addressing this gap through the implementation of the Market Development Masterplan, which identifies suitable areas where informal trading may be accommodated.
“Certain areas within the CBD are designated for trading, while others are restricted due to safety, traffic flow, pedestrian movement, and urban management considerations. The area adjacent to Shoprite was designed and approved as a taxi rank and transport zone, and no provision was made for trading in that space. Traders currently operating in such areas are therefore doing so outside of approved trading zones,” he said.
Alleged harassment from City Police
Anna-Maria Marungu (51), came to Windhoek in 2002 from the Korokoroko village from the Kavango East region along with her husband seeking greener pastures and a better quality of life through entrepreneurial means.
That is when she started her business, selling different types of vegetables and fruit in a shopping trolley, but is faced with the challenge of being harassed by the City Police who also confiscate her stock.
“The Police insults me and one day it will get physical. Last Friday, they took all my stock,” said Marungu. She is a mother of four, (three women aged 32, 24 and 18, a 28-year-old man), along with four granddaughters.
One of her daughters is a third year Information Technology student at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. Marungu pays her tuition fees and also significantly contributes financially for the rest of the family.
She lamented how the constant harassment faced from the Police negatively affects her business’ profitability.
Akwenye explained that the City Police is a law enforcement arm of the Council and is mandated to enforce municipal by-laws, including those governing informal trading.
“Enforcement actions, including the removal of illegal traders from unapproved sites, occur only when regulations are not complied with. Council reiterates that it will not tolerate lawlessness.
Where individuals continue to trade illegally, City Police will enforce the applicable by-laws. Improved access to information and the development of formal markets will certainly assist, but compliance with the law remains the responsibility of every trader,” he said.
Traders have also been urged to obtain permits to trade legally. The permits are available on a first come first service basis in accordance with the Informal Trading Regulation No. 3882 of 2007.
They are currently limited to braai stands and fruit and vegetable stands which operate outside formal market facilities.
A braai stands costs N$63.42 per day, while a fruit and vegetable stand can be booked for N$221 per month.
