adminJohannesburg – The Constitutional Court ruled yesterday that informal traders in Johannesburg’s CBD could return to their trading spots, the SA Informal Traders Forum (Saitf) said. “The ruling was that all the traders that were removed by the City of Johannesburg can now resume trading,” said Saitf deputy chair Phumulani Ndlovu.The city was ordered to pay the costs of the application.
Ndlovu said the court ordered the city not to interfere with informal traders operating on the streets.
The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled on Wednesday last week that the application by the traders to return to their trading spots had not been urgent.
The hawkers were represented by the SA National Traders and Retail Alliance (Santra) and Saitf. They asked the court to order the city to allow them to return to the pavements of the inner city to trade.
They were removed so the city could verify how many informal traders were operating in the central business district but they were not permitted to return.
Santra and the Saitf approached the Constitutional Court, seeking an order for the hawkers to return to the sites where they previously traded.-Fin24.
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