South Africa’s unemployment rate was 29% in 2019. In an instance where there was not informal trading in South Africa, surely this number would have been much higher. This because the sector employs around 3 million citizens. It is not a lot, but surely, when there is a disaster in the country like now, such a number of people should not be marginalized. Those were the sentiments of a number of informal traders on the sidewalks in the small town of Vryburg. They told The Vryburg Independent Post (The V.I.P) that they are all for fighting to flattening the COVID19 curve through a national lockdown, but such decisions should be made with some consideration for them as well. These informal trader were anxious about the total shutting down of the town, because this would mean that they would have to also stop operating. To them this means no income for 21 days.

The 21 days National lockdown is in full swing in South Africa, and evidently the majority of the economy has been put to a stand still until the 16th of April 2020. Be that as it may, a sector that is greatly impacted by the lockdown has to be the informal traders’ sector. This is as they too will have to holt their operations to observe and adhere to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call for a National lockdown.

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According Statistics South Africa, the informal trader employs 3 million South Africans. In most instances, the role of the informal traders in South Africa’s economy is often overshadowed by the humdrum of a seemingly working economy. Almost immediately after the President’s announcement regarding the Lockdown, mitigation by the government was put in place to relief business and employees in the formal trading sectors. This is through the UIF relief fund. Because majority of the informal is not tax complaint, and therefore was not included as part of such compensation by government.

South African Young Entrepreneur Zone (SAYEZ), an entrepreneur activism platform, took it upon themselves to be one of the people or groups that confronted that situation. They did this by sending an open letter to the President and the Minister of Small Business Development. The letter raised a number of issues as far as the informal traders are concern. Chief amongst them was the call for the government to protect the informal trading sector, as it is the most vulnerable sector in the economy. SAYEZ pointed out that the government failed to consider informal traders as stakeholders when consulting other stakeholders ahead of the lockdown, despite the industry employing approximately 5% of the population.

On Tuesday, 31 March 2020, Minister of Small Business Development, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, acknowledged the concerns of the informal traders, and in so doing announced that she will on Thursday ,2nd April 2020, announce support measures for Spaza shops, hawkers and broader informal sector.

-The VIP Team

-StatsSA

-DSBD

-Jus4tos Photography

-SAYEZ