The City of Johannesburg and two organisations representing informal traders in the Inner City, JEWDET and ONE VOICE, have agreed to establish a Joint Operation Committee (JOC) to facilitate a speedy reallocation of traders to designated stalls in the Inner City of Johannesburg.
This follows an urgent invitation by the City for all traders who have been verified to present themselves at Metro Mall today to be issued with new Smart Cards. Although the City was ready to commence with the issuing of the new smart cards aimed at paving a way for the allocation of stands, the informal trader’s leadership requested, at the meeting held earlier today, that a JOC comprising of the representatives from the sector and the City be established to oversee the reallocation of stands in a speedy and transparent manner, to which the City agreed.
Both parties agreed on Terms of Reference for the Joint Operations Committee, which on a high level includes the following:
– To guide and support the reallocation process in line with the City’s By-Laws and policies.
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· – To address any objections arising from the verification and allocation process; and
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· – To assist the City to identify short streets that can be designated for trading.
The meeting further agreed that the reallocation process should resume tomorrow at places agreed by both parties. These include Kerk Street, Joubert Street and Diagonal Street linear markets. The allocation process will be preceded by the issuing of new smart cards at Metro Mall scheduled to start at 11:00.
The City and the informal sector are urging traders who have been through the verifications process and were trading in areas listed above to go to Metro Mall to collect their new smart cards. Metro Mall is situated on number 171 Bree Street on the corner of Bree Street and Sauer Street.
The City of Johannesburg reiterate its commitment to the development of the informal trading sector. Informal Trading provides income to the unemployed and also represent an alternative to established formal retail sector.
As part of the ongoing efforts by the City to create a conducive environment for informal trading, the City of Johannesburg leadership continues to meet with the informal sector leadership to improve trading in the Inner City.