1 May 2010

Fair Games, Fair Trade

Cape Town city rolls out plan for informal traders during the FIFA Games

World Class Cities For All Campaign spokesperson Nkosinathi Jikeka said today that the decision taken by Cape Town City to extend opportunities to informal traders during the FIFA World Cup Games was welcome.

"The WCCA Campaign demand for the inclusion of the urban poor in plans for the FIFA Games is bearing fruit", he said. However he added that time was running out and that all host cities should be implementing plans to link informal traders to the opportunities that exist during the Games to earn an income.

Responding to the decision taken by Cape Town City, Riedwaan Charles, the Interim Chair of the Parade Forum and Western Cape Informal Traders` Coalition (WCITC) who are WCCA Campaign partners, said that 450 Parade traders will be displaced for the duration of the Games while the market is used by FIFA as a Fan Park. They have demanded that the City put into place a plan to accommodate informal traders during the World Cup.

Charles said "This is a step forward". He said the Parade forum have been in dialogue with the city over the identification of spaces for the traders who are affected in the Cape Town Central Business District over the last month. "We have requested two areas for the Parade traders near the Castle and are waiting for approval. The ball is in the City`s court to inform us clearly of how the plan to extend opportunities to informal traders will be put into motion," he said.

Jikeka commenting on the conditions being negotiated with the City by the Parade Forum and WCITC said there was concern about the proposed ban on food traders of local South African food by FIFA. "The ban on local South African food which the City says is a FIFA requirement is a mistake. Instead they would like commercial brands to be sold by informal traders. That means tourists will not have a chance to enjoy local food and culture, and this decision will affect many of the informal traders who sell cooked food. Cape Town needs to follow the precedent of Johannesburg that is including a training programme for food traders to meet health standards rather than an imposing a prohibition on locally made food being sold by informal traders.

Paul Williamson, spokesperson for the Economic and Human Development Department tasked with identifying trading sites for informal traders during the FIFA Games, said that a decision to extend opportunities to informal traders was taken by the Mayoral Committee. It was agreed by the Mayor that, firstly, the informal traders and urban poor should benefit from the FIFA World Cup Games and, secondly, informal traders who are displaced during the Games must be provided with an alternative.

Williamson said that the city has prioritised the Parade traders and that it had also identified trading areas across the municipal area that comply with the Business Act and that have good ‘foot fall` (passing trade). The sites will be near park and ride points, at the public viewing venues, at soccer training venues, along the Fan Walk and near the Fan Park. Green Market Square traders will not be affected. Williamson said that official approval for the informal trading sites has been obtained and that once the details were made public, informal traders would be able to apply for permits to trade during the FIFA Games.

The decision by Cape Town follows that by Johannesburg which announced in February that it is implementing a plan to extend opportunities to informal traders, prioritising those who will lose their trading sites during the Games at soccer stadiums and in the FIFA exclusion zones. It has identified sites for trading at the public viewing venues and at park and ride transport points for informal traders.

Jikeka said the WCCA Campaign urged all host cites to follow the lead of Johannesburg and Cape Town to include the urban poor in the opportunities to earn an income during the Games.

For more information contact:

Nkosinathi Jikeka – WCCA Campaign organiser Cape Town.

Cell 071 826 8076 jikekan@yahoo.com

Riedwaan Charles, the Interim Chair of the Parade Forum and Western Cape Informal Traders` Coalition Cell 083 965 6324

Nora Wintour WCCA Campaign Coordinator e-mail norawintour@live.co.uk