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Also, when the minister questioned when they would finish the project,

MANZINI - The Manzini Municipal Council has reiterated that second-hand clothing traders will operate only two days a week.

In his statement, the council’s Information and Communications Officer Mathokoza Thwala said the agreement between second-hand clothing traders and the municipality had always been, and still was that they were permitted to trade at the Manzini main Bus Rank only on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

He said temporary changes were effected during the period of COVID-19 as a means to comply with national government regulations in relation to social distancing.

“The social distancing requirement meant that the traders would no longer fit at the site. A decision was, therefore, taken by the municipality to temporarily split the traders into two groups, and allocated each group two days of trading per week; with one group trading on Wednesdays and Thursdays while the other traded on Fridays and Saturdays,” Thwala said.

He stated that when the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted by government, the second-hand clothing traders were directed to revert to the original trading days (Wednesdays and Thursdays). Thwala said at that time, the municipality realised that with the deadline three months from now, they shared that though the issue of rains was a contributing factor on the timelines not being met, they had other strategies in place to meet the deadline. “There will be day and night shifts to push the work, as the main aim is to finish on time,” said one of the engineers.

The minister then proceeded to tour the Jorbert to Nhlangano Road via Matimatima and Mbilaneni, to assess the damage caused by the rains. It was discovered that there was water in the middle of the road, which made it muddy.

At Zombodze Emuva, there is the Chibidze Bridge which is under construction, Nyamane Bridge extension and 10km road regravelling, half the stalls were not occupied by the rightful owners; as some legal traders had abandoned their stalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He revealed that others were found to have illegally leased or sold the stalls; which was against the municipality’s regulations.

“This discovery made the municipality realise the huge appetite for second-hand clothing business among emaSwati. This was compounded by an influx of applications for second-hand clothing trade in the city,” disclosed Thwala.

Decision

He said at the time, the municipality had about 1 000 applications for second-hand clothing trade. He stated that it was on that premise that the municipality took a decision to introduce an open flea market, so that as many emaSwati as possible could benefit.

Thwala highlighted that the dedicated second-hand clothing flea market days were Fridays and Saturdays, at the same site (main bus rank). However, he said the permit-holding traders did not want to share the trading space with the flea market traders. As a result, this reportedly prompted the municipality to, in November 2022, relocate the flea market to the Manzini Trade Hub; which necessitated cancellation of the Friday and Saturday flea market at the main bus rank. which is done by Construction Associates. It was said to be at 46 per cent completion, having started in January 4 this year and will be complete in May 3, 2023. It was said that the bridge construction came at a cost of E9 million. According to Zombodze Emuva Member of Parliament Bhekani Kunene, the bridge was a necessity, given that pupils had to take off their shoes when crossing the river.

He further said even the school food had to be collected by parents using wheelbarrows as the trucks could not reach the school.

Tarring

Also, the minister proceeded to the Siphambanweni-Nsalitje Road where there is the tarring of the road project leading to the borderline.

During an interview, Ndwandwe stated that the tarring of roads leading to borderlines was meant to align with those in South Africa, which were tarred.

“This was a motion that was raised to the prime minister in Parliament to have all roads leading to the country’s border gates tarred,” he said. The minister further said they were happy with the progress in all the sites, as they were noting it.

He said they were also going to work on the areas of concern where the roads were damaged by the rains, adding that there would be construction of two bridges between Sigcineni and Sibovu, where the bridges were seriously damaged.

Thwala said with the festive season approaching, the permit-holding traders requested to be allowed to continue trading at the main bus rank.

“Permission to do so was granted and it was clearly communicated that such would only continue until end of January 2023,” he said.

However, post January 2023, Thwala mentioned that the traders did not revert to the two trading days; as agreed. This prompted the municipality to write to them, reminding them that they were expected to revert to the two trading days, according to the municipality spokesperson.

He said the the traders had been resisting to comply with the directive ever since. Instead, he said they insisted that they should be allowed to continue trading four days a week; from Wednesday to Saturday.

“They are also adamant that they do not want to share the trading space with flea market traders. This is despite numerous engagements that have taken place, wherein the rationale behind introduction of the flea market concept, including how it would be of benefit to hundreds of emaSwati, was explained,” he said.

Thwala also said the traders’ stance defeated the municipality’s mandate of ensuring equitable use of the city’s trading space to benefit as many citizens as possible.