adminSukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
Plumtree Town Council recently evicted informal traders operating in one of the border town’s transport ranks over non-payment of rentals.
Operations for a number of traders at Dingumuzi Bus Rank came to a halt as they were ordered to remove their goods from council leased shops.
This is after the council issued defaulting traders with letters in February ordering them to have removed their goods by March 30 as the local authority was going to repossess the shops.
“You have failed to pay monthly rentals due to council despite several reminders to do so. You are therefore advised to remove your personal belongings from the shop by the 30th of March to allow council to allocate the same shop to an individual who will utilise it in accordance with the Plumtree Town Council lease agreement.
“You will be advised on how you will settle your outstanding bill,” read one of the letters which was issued to an evicted trader.
One of the evicted traders Mr Mhlawumbe Ndebele said he owed council $2 800 in rent arrears.
He said he was struggling to raise the rental fee as it was too high compared to the money he was earning from his business.
Mr Ndebele said the rent for a single shop was pegged at $37 and in addition they had to pay $68 to obtain a licence which expired after every three months.
He said the shop which had been repossessed was his only source of income.
Another evicted trader, who is also the chairperson of the Informal Traders Association, Mr Tonamata Mupindiwa, said about 12 informal traders had been evicted from Dingumuzi Bus Rank.
He said the rent they were being charged was equivalent to the one paid by some established shops within the rank.
“We received letters of eviction a few months back but we negotiated with the council through the business association. We were surprised when council officers arrived yesterday and told us to vacate the shops this morning.
“They do not understand that the money they are charging us is too high and it does not match the state of this rank. This rank is a white elephant and we have appealed to the council to revive it,” said Mr Mupindiwa.
He said the rank was supposed to be filled with activity but there was none as buses and kombis were not ranking there.
Another woman who was also evicted, Ms Sarah Moyo said the council had pegged their rent at $63 but it was reduced to $37 this year.
She said it was important for the council to revive the bus rank so that they could have customers.
Ms Moyo said they were now forced to operate from illegal selling points since gazetted structures were beyond their reach.
The council leased shops were housing grocery, clothing and hardware shops and salons.
In an interview, the town’s secretary, Mr Davis Dumezweni Luthe said the move by council to repossess leased shops was according to a resolution passed at a full council meeting.
“The traders were aware of this development as we had issued them with warning letters. This decision was passed at a full council meeting and we are just implementing it right now.
“The traders were defaulting on their payments and the full council decided that some action had to be taken,” he said.
Council resolved to repossess council leased shops during a meeting in November last year.
Online Reporter