Insiza RDC crafts Hawkers and Vendors by-law

Insiza Rural District Council (RDC) has crafted a draft Hawkers and Vendors by-law for informal traders following complaints raised during engagement meetings organized by Sizimele under the Urban Resilience Safe Markets project early this year, that there are no regulations governing the sector. The informal economy in Filabusi has been operating unregulated due to the absence of by-laws which govern the sector. Informal traders have been facing challenges which affect the growth of their businesses. Some of the challenges came out during engagement meetings held in February this year, leading to the resolution of coming up with a draft of the by-law. In the engagement meetings, it was observed that there are competing interests among informal traders, there seem to be conflicts between those operating in car boots, those who come and sell in bulk and go and those who pay licenses and rentals to the local authority. Some traders argue that there is no accountability nor value for the fees they pay for service delivery. “After gathering the concerns of the informal traders, the councillors resolved this by crafting the by-law to regulate the informal economy activities in the town and took up the issues to the RDC which acted accordingly, said Nontokozo Ndlovu, RDC legal secretary. “According to Section 88 of the RDC Act, a notice for inspection of the draft by-law must be publicised on newspapers and notice boards for objections. A notice was flighted on 21 June and will be up for 21 days and after that the inspection will run for 14 days. If there are no objections, the draft will be taken to the legal drafting expert for perfection and to the Ministry of Local governance for approval, then after that the by-law will be gazetted as a statutory,” said Ndlovu. Informal traders have hope that the by-laws will ensure harmony among informal traders and also help to align informal traders to the local authority economic development plans at the same time solidify the relationship with the local authority.  

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