‘Dobha phansi’ stalls vandalised, removed
MANZINI - Dejected!
This best describes the emotion of vendors who ply their trade at the bend and pick (dobha pansi) in Man ]ini, after they woke up to discover that their stalls were vandalised and removed on Friday morning.
The small scale vendors alleged that their stalls, which are made of pellets, were vandalised by the Man]ini Municipal &ouncil security guards on Thursday night. According to the hawkers, they got wind of that at around pm on Thursday, the se curity guards went to their business premises situated at the Man]ini %us Rank, where they demolished and removed their stalls, some of which were even disposed at the nearby M]imnene River.
The vandalism happens hardly a year after a storage room that hous es the clothes they sell was gutted by a mysterious fire last year. This happened in September last year at the storage room where about bend and pick vendors stored their stock in the facility, all of which was extensively damaged by the burning of the Palm %each building.
Challenge
When the incident took place at around pm, personnel from the (s watini 1ational Fire and (mergency Services ((1F(S) had a challenge extinguishing the flames as the en trance was locked. The fire was put out on the following day and the dam age was said to be worth ( million.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the hawkers were yet again found distraught at the bend and pick premises in the morn ing, with some seen crying hysteri cally upon seeing the damaged stalls.
So serious was the situation that some women took to the municipali ty’s offices on Friday morning in the company of police officers who were called by the women. Some officers of the law were seen conversing with some of the vendors at the bend and pick area.
The hawkers were of the view that the municipality was behind the van dalism because at around pm, they received a call from some people who were at the bus rank, informing them that security guards from the munic ipality were vandalising their stalls.
“1ot so long ago, our stock was burnt to ashes at the storage room and what is saddening now is that to date, the police have not caught the sus pects. And now, this has happened,” alleged the hawkers.
The businesspeople further lament ed that they were entrepreneurs who were trying to make ends meet through their small businesses. They disclosed that they were feeding their families, paying for their children’s school fees as well as tuition fees, and supporting their families through this business. They wondered whom they could run and report their matter to, as no one seemed to care for their welfare.
The hawkers said their plan was to report their plight to Their MaMesties.
One of the businesswomen who spoke on condition of anonymity shared that in the past year when the storage room was gutted by a fire, she lost a total value of ( worth of stock. “I almost suffered a stroke from the loss because the stock was from my monthly savings. And now we wake up to find our stalls damaged and removed to *od knows where. Why do we have to suffer this much?” the businesswoman Tueried.
She went on to state that she wished that the person behind the vandal ism would repent from his her evil ways. The hawker said the culprit was testing their faith as they could no longer forgive him her for this. Another emotional vendor was found in a sombre mood seated on one of the damaged stalls.
Situation
“We are doomed, everything is de stroyed and discarded as you can see. The people behind this surely want to see us dead,” she said.
She expressed that the situation was excruciating to say the least. Accord ing to the hawker, this came at a time when she was still recovering from losses incurred during the &orona virus pandemic, political unrest, as well as the fire that gutted her stock in September. Although she said she did not have control over what happened, she said she was stressed by the fact that she would be without business.
Another vendor who was distraught said she had borrowed a sum of (
from her stokvel to purchase a bale of clothes which she intended to make profit from. She said she was so distressed as to where she would get the money from after her stall was vandalised and removed. The hawker said she was now tasked with the burden of having to look for another pellet. She hoped that government would intervene on the matter, having considered their best interests at heart.
Meanwhile, the removal of the hawkers’ stalls will not only affect them but also a chain of other infor mal businesspeople who accumulated money by transporting bales of cloth ing sold by the vendors.
A young man who transports clothes for the hawkers said he made ( a day from transporting the bales for various hawkers. +e said he would not be making any money until they went back to business.
Matter
&hairperson of Dobha Phansi Tho bile Dube confirmed that their pellets were found demolished and removed from the premises. She said she re ported the matter to the Ministry of &ommerce, Industry and Trade, as well as the municipality, as per the procedure. She said she called the police and invited them to accompany them to the municipality premises.
Dube shared that the vandalism to their property was unbecoming and it seemed as though there were fights against them. The chairperson said the municipality initially removed them from the %osco Skills &entre to the bus rank where they promised that they would trade there permanently. +owever, Dube said they were being replaced by the municipality with people who were selling through flea markets on weekends. According to Dube, this was unfair competition.
Meanwhile, she said they would have a meeting with the &ommerce Ministry regarding their issue.
When drawn for comment, Man]ini Municipal &ouncil Information and &ommunications Manager Mathoko ]a Thwala said he was not aware of any vandalism at the second hand clothing site.
“It is not true that the municipality would engage in any form of vandal ism. It must be some other forces and most certainly not the municipality,” he said. Thwala also stated that there was absolutely no plot to remove the dobha phansi traders. +e reiterated that there was no way the municipali ty would do that. +e said the informal sector played a significant role in the economy.