The DA in the Greater Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) calls on the municipality to restore order in the Tzaneen CBD by enforcing its Street Trading Bylaws and Policy.
The DA supports the right of informal traders to earn a livelihood, but this must take place within a clearly defined regulatory environment—one that promotes safe, orderly, and equitable street trading that serves both the traders and the broader community. A fair balance must be struck between the interests of informal traders, formal businesses, and the public at large.
GTM has the necessary regulatory framework in place in the form of Street Trading Bylaws and a supporting policy. What is missing is the municipality’s capacity—and more critically, the political will—to enforce these regulations. In the absence of enforcement, lawlessness fills the void, turning the CBD into a zone of disorder, where rules are ignored with impunity and the regulatory framework rendered meaningless.
Illegal hawkers and unpermitted traders have in the interim overrun the pavements and streets of the CBD, posing risks to pedestrians and road users, and negatively impacting legitimate businesses.
In key streets such as Danie Joubert Street, walking on the pavements has become virtually impossible. Designated parking bays are now occupied by informal stalls, and motorists must navigate cautiously as hawkers and customers move freely in the road.
The DA has, on numerous occasions, raised this issue with the municipality—highlighting the harm caused to law-abiding businesses and the collapse of order in the Tzaneen CBD. Yet, these concerns have been met with little more than indifference. In response to formal written questions on the state of informal trading, the municipality failed to provide satisfactory answers or a clear plan of action.
GTM has also failed to designate other areas outside the CBD where street trading may also legitimately take place.
The municipality’s continued failure to implement its own regulatory framework may well mark the beginning of the CBD’s decline and eventual collapse – unless decisive action is taken.
We will continue to apply pressure on the municipality to enforce its policies and bylaws—ensuring that the rights of residents, informal traders, and formal businesses are protected, and that order is restored to the Tzaneen CBD.