Illegal hawkers give land owners headache

The problem of hawkers trading illegally along the N1 seems to be one that law enforcers and authorities are reluctant to tackle.

The Soutpansberg mountain pass just north of Makhado (Louis Trichardt) has, over the years, become a prime spot for hawkers to set up shop illegally, trying to cash in on the high volume of traffic along the N1. A couple of months ago, however, the South African National Road Agency (SANRAL) erected wooden barrier poles along a large section of the N1 between the Mountain Inn and Avoca Vale Hotel, apparently to force the hawkers trading here out of the area. In a sense their decision had the desired effect, but some of the hawkers just moved lower down or higher up from where the poles were erected, much to the frustration of local landowners.

One such hawker, apparently a Malawian man, set up shop at the Bluegumspoort/N1 junction. Local landowner Mr Bruce Murray confronted the man when he started setting up his stall because his action was obviously illegal. “He poked his finger in my face and told me ‘You are harassing me! I know where you live and I will come for you,’” Murray told the Zoutpansberger. Other landowners in the area are also complaining of the man’s arrogance and not even a visit from local police could persuade him to leave the area. A couple of weeks ago he was fined by the police for not having a hawker's permit and ordered to pack up and leave. This he did, only to come back the next day and set up shop again.

“He is not hawking as an act of survival. Every morning he arrives with his bakkie fully loaded with fresh produce of whatever season. Apparently he has three stalls along the N1 leading up to the tunnels,” Murray said.

After several attempts through official channels to have the illegal hawker removed, Murray wrote a letter to SANRAL’s head office, requesting them to act. “Hawking poses several problems for local residents. Primarily, hawking along the N1 is illegal. The hawkers use the adjacent farm land for ablution purposes, there is a high probability that the fruit they are selling is procured illegally from the adjacent farms, foreign hawkers create a security risk, traffic is dangerously disrupted when vehicles stop to purchase goods, etc,”  reads Murray's letter dated 3 April. Copies of his letter were also sent to the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport, the Limpopo Department of Safety and Liaison, the AA and Business Against Crime.

Much to Murray’s frustration, he received no feedback from any of the state departments or organisations, not even confirmation of receipt of his letter. “What troubles me is that SANRAL takes no responsibility when it comes to hawkers. If we put a sign up next to the N1, SANRAL will take it down the same day. They are not applying the law even-handedly,” Murray said. Apparently, SANRAL makes use of outside contractors to do law enforcement along the N1 because their own personnel fear victimisation. “My biggest concern is that an organisation like SANRAL can’t deal with it. This is one individual,” Murray said.

Questions regarding the situation along the N1, as well as Murray’s letter, were forwarded to SANRAL’s head office. On Tuesday, Mr Vusi Mona, SANRAL’s general manager of communications, responded by stating that the barrier had indeed been erected to prevent vehicles from stopping on the side of the road in order to purchase goods from the hawkers trading there illegally. He said that it was a temporary solution until the problem of illegal trading was eradicated. 

With regard to Murray’s remark regarding sign boards next to the N1 and the fact that SANRAL is apparently slow to react to hawkers' trading illegally, Mona said: “This is correct. Our service providers who are contractors have the legal mandate to carry out these actions of removal [sign boards]. In the case of traders, the process of removal becomes a law enforcement action that can only be carried out by the traffic police or SAPS and not by SANRAL or its service providers. Consequently, we are in the hands of the law-enforcement authorities,” Mona said. He added that they were aware of the difficulties and challenges faced by local authorities and their difficulties in delivering on their mandates.

“SANRAL appeals to your newspaper, its readers, and the residents in the pass to make available some property that is located alongside the N1 and is safe to access … that can be developed into a trading area that will hopefully then remove the traders from the edge of the N1 … Should this be available, SANRAL will, together with the community, access funds to assist with the development of facilities such as stalls, storage facilities, ablutions, electricity, water supply, parking space, and so forth. The current hawkers would then be accommodated in this facility, creating jobs and making honest, proud business people of the current illegal traders.  Let us collectively be part of the solution and not the problem,” Mona concluded.

News - Date: 09 May 2014

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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