Only 93 of the hundreds of street vendors evicted from Johannesburg’s inner city have come forward to apply for trading permits, Mayor Dada Morero revealed during a media briefing on Tuesday morning.
The Mayor was responding to a question from Joburg News Editor-in-Chief Clement Sibanda about whether the City has adequate trading spaces to accommodate all informal traders previously represented by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI).
Morero explained that SERI, which took the City to the High Court late last month, had claimed to represent over 500 informal traders who were allegedly unlawfully evicted. The human rights organisation accused the municipality of violating the traders’ constitutional right to earn a living.
However, according to Morero, SERI’s submission to the court lacked critical identifying information such as passport numbers, asylum seeker permits, and refugee status documents, which made verification of the traders’ identities difficult.
“The court said: register and verify within 14 days,” Morero told journalists. “To date, we are sitting at 93 traders — which begins to present a particular problem. It shows we were correct in addressing the issue of illegal trading.”
Questioning the large discrepancy, the Mayor asked:
“Who are the rest of the traders that were operating there? So they were trading illegally.”
Morero reiterated the City’s stance that informal trade must be regulated through a formal permit system to maintain order and fairness.
“The number has to be regulated,” he said. “If you don’t regulate the number by issuing permits and setting a clear limit, then everyone will set up stalls without control. You cannot go beyond a particular number when it comes to trading in the city.”
The ongoing tension between the City of Johannesburg and informal traders has raised broader debates about economic survival, urban renewal, and inclusive policy enforcement. For many vendors, the city streets remain their only means of livelihood — while city officials insist that unregulated trading undermines health, safety, and urban management standards.