City of Joburg issues permits, allocates stalls as it ‘cleans up’ informal trading areas

Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero announced yesterday that the city had begun allocating stalls, and has issued smart cards, to registered street vendors in the inner city. “We have onboarded many traders from the AK1 and AK2 court list, verified their documentation and issued the first group with permits. Stall allocations have also commenced in markets where space is immediately available,” he said.The city’s recent evictions of informal street traders was challenged in court by the South African Informal Traders’ Forum and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (Seri). The city stated that the Seri List contained 720 name, but dropped to 508 names after duplicates were removed.“Where we are now, we have verified and cleared at least 161 traders. We are handing out smart cards today to 44 of the 161, and by Friday they will be allocated their stalls so that they can start trading.” Of the 500 listed, the bulk of them did not have ID numbers or passports, which confirms that the reason they did not come through is because they’re illegal and undocumented. It’s unlikely that when I know I’m undocumented I would hand myself over, so they’ve disappeared into thin air—  Dada Morero, Joburg mayor The city identified: 72 traders whom Morero described as “fully fledged, born-and-bred South Africans” The stalls have been allocated to 67 traders who are now South African citizens. “suspense permits”. It is usually the case that the original standholder has passed away and the family member wants to take over. Prospective traders have also been submitting new permit requests. Morero reported that the city is dealing with 2,819 applications. The city is in a stall shortage, with only 208 available. TimesLIVE
2025-11-19 04:54:15