The municipal council of Grootfontein has approached the High Court to compel them to evict street vendors in the town after hawkers refused to vacate the central business district area.

The municipal council argues that street vendors unlawfully occupied the central business district (CBD) and several streets in the town.

In papers before court, the town claims the vendors, who mostly sell perishables and trinkets, started occupying various streets around the town’s CBD in November 2020.

The vendors allegedly occupied the areas without the town’s permission. 

Hawkers are allegedly conducting their businesses on Hage Geingob, Hidipo Hamutenya, Sam Nujoma, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo and Kavango Streets.

The town has tried to get the small business owners to vacate the area and move to another “suitable” area by writing a notice, but they have allegedly refused to heed the call.

Thus, the sellers are illegally occupying the land and unlawfully trading on it.

According to the municipality, it is difficult to locate the vendors to get their details so that they may be given an opportunity to defend themselves in court.

“The defendants (vendors) are many in number, and we have observed that they repeatedly relocate their trading positions within the area,” the local authority claimed. 

In 2020, this paper reported that street hawkers have refused to move to a newly-established temporary open market opposite the town’s Otjivanda shopping mall.

At the time, the sellers argued that the area was too small and substandard. In addition, they said the open market was not strategically located, hence it is not economically viable. Thus, traders feared making a loss when operating at the facility, which is about a kilometre away from the main Okavango Road that passes through the heart of the town. 

To show their disdain, about 200 street vendors staged a protest, suggesting that additional space be created to accommodate the over 600 traders.

The application will be in court on 20 October for a status hearing before Judge Orben Sibeya.

-mamakali@nepc.com.na