Informal traders at Nonkqubela station in Site B say they are facing a bleak future due to the continuous vandalism in the area.
The traders say criminals have made their workspaces chaotic and unpleasant to operate in as they have been digging underneath their stalls to rip out cables, leaving them without electricity.
Selling food such as braaied meat and tripe, the traders pointed out that this was their only source of income and they have no other means of providing for their families. Chairperson of Nonkqubela Informal Traders, Vusumzi Skeyi, described the situation as frustrating.
He said one day the criminals had pelted them with stones and insulted them because they wanted them to close their stalls so they could start digging to steal electricity cables.
He was worried that all the digging was making the building structure unsafe and said the area was no longer conducive to running a business. This was even though there was a security company employed to safeguard their stalls. However, he said, all of these incidents had been happening right under their nose.
He said they had reported the matter to the manager of the area and security guards but their grievances had been repeatedly ignored.
He said the organisation had decided that the security company must be dismissed as they were useless.
Mr Skeyi also said their business precinct had no access to water and they are forced to carry buckets of water from their homes.
He said it was extremely difficult to run a business selling braai meat without taps nearby.
He said there had been renovations in their business precinct last year but some of the doors that had been installed at their stalls were vandalised and ripped apart.
“Some people have closed their stores. We are having sleepless nights because we do not know whether we would still find our business tools.
“We no longer have fridges to keep our meat fresh. And now we have to buy cooler bags. We are no longer making enough money to cover up the operating costs,” he said.
Mr Skeyi said he has been running his businesses for nearly two decades.
Member of Nonkqubela Informal Traders and store owner, Banda Mapoloba, said he had been running his business for nearly 15 years. He feels no one cares about their plight and complaints.
Mr Mapoloba said their businesses used to be lucrative but now things had taken an awful turn.
He said every time they lock their stores they wonder what would happen to them. Mr Mapoloba has urged those in authority to intervene. Mayoral committee member for area east, Anda Ntsodo, said one of the main challenges at the informal trading space is the theft of underground electrical cables which impacts negatively on business in the area.
He said incidents of cable theft do get reported to the South African Police Service and the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement Unit.
But he said to address the latest spate of criminal activity, representatives of the City’s department of economic development held a meeting with the trader leadership and representatives of the Khayelitsha Development Forum on Friday July 13.
“It was agreed that a more sustainable and comprehensive plan needs to be developed and implemented to deal with this problem and a follow-up meeting is being arranged with all the relevant stakeholders within the next two weeks. These stakeholders will include the informal trader leadership, SAPS, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and relevant City departments.”