Windhoek vendors demand answers over relocation
The demonstration, led by Katutura Residents Committee chairperson Benestus Kandundu, followed complaints from traders who say that the City’s decision to relocate them has affected their businesses, reduced their customer base and threatened their ability to support their families.
Addressing the demonstrators, Kandundu accused the municipality of implementing its relocation measures without adequately consulting the affected vendors, arguing that the decision failed to consider the locations where traders had established their businesses.
He said that the City should have engaged the vendors before making changes to their trading arrangements.
“Most of these vendors, where they have been trading, they identify those points as suitable to the business that they are conducting,” Kandundu said.
He further claimed that the relocation had left some traders earning as little as N$20 a day.
“Currently, there are people who are making N$20 per day as a result of the City of Windhoek's action,” he said.
Kandundu also argued that the municipality's decision came at a difficult time, pointing to the economic challenges associated with the foot-and-mouth disease situation. He said the committee had attempted to secure meetings with the City on several occasions but had not succeeded in opening a channel for dialogue.
One of the affected vendors, Maria Hango, said she previously sold goods in the Southern Industrial area before being moved by City Police.
Hango alleged that officers confiscated their goods and issued them tickets amounting to N$500, leaving vendors struggling to pay the fines.
She also raised concerns about the handling of confiscated food, claiming that some products were placed in a refrigerator while they were being held by authorities.
“When we go and ask them about the food. They say they don't care about the food. They just care about their ticket,” she said.
Hango said vendors had initially been informed by the municipality that certain trading locations were approved, and some of them had started making payments before later being told that the locations were no longer authorised.
She said being forced to sell from their homes was not a practical alternative because they would struggle to find customers.
She further claimed that the income generated from their businesses helped them pay school fees and provide for their families.
“The money we make is what we use to pay our school fees for our kids and survive through our lives so that we can go forward,” Hango said.
During the petition handover, Kandundu appealed to the minister to facilitate dialogue between the vendors and the municipality, saying some traders had been relocated to the riverbed while others had lost their established clientele.
Minister of Urban and Rural Development, James Sankwasa, was accompanied by Windhoek Mayor Sakarias Uunona, the City of Windhoek Chief Executive Officer Moses Matyayi and Benedict Ngairorue City of Windhoek Chief Legal Advisor in which he called on the municipal leadership to receive the petition and address the complaints.
“I brought the council to respond to your needs,” Sankwasa said, questioning the City's representatives about the alleged unsuccessful attempts by vendors to secure meetings.
Uunona disputed the suggestion that the City had refused to engage with the traders, saying he was not aware of the alleged attempts to arrange meetings.
“On my side, I could say I don't know about that,” he said.
Sankwasa indicated that the vendors would receive a response by next Friday.
