CITY IMPOSES TRADING RESTRICTIONS

Grand Parade hawkers lose out on most lucrative weekend

- MURRAY SWART

CAPE Town's informal traders say the City has wiped out their most lucrative weekend of the year, barring hundreds of hawkers from operating on the Grand Parade in the crucial lead-up to the annual Festive Lights Switch-On FLSO).

The City confirmed that 40 traders were allowed to carry out their business at a designated location in Lower Plein Street.

Hours before the festivities could begin yesterday, National Informal Traders Alliance of South Africa (NITASA) claimed scores of law enforcement officers were removing close to 100 trolleys belonging to traders.

The City however kicked back stating that traders were not permitted to trade on Friday due to construction of the FLSO and that they were asked to remove their material due to safety risks.

Tensions mounted when roughly 250 traders along with a further 250 to 300 assistants claimed they were blocked from trading on Friday and Saturday, a move they say has plunged nearly 3 000 people into deeper financial distress.

"We were not allowed to trade at all despite the fact that the place was completely open," said Rosheda Muller, President of NITASA and chairperson of the Grand Parade Traders Alliance.