Informal traders abused – claim
FEMALE informal traders suffer a great deal of gender-based violence (GBV) and harassment from law enforcement members and criminals that have infiltrated the sector – harassment they say goes unpunished.
This was one of the concerns raised by Manenberg Business Forum chairperson and informal trader Shamielah Edwards during an SA Traders Alliance
(Saita) discussion on GBV in the informal trading sector yesterday.
Saita communications manager Louise Silver said GBV was a widespread problem in South Africa. “We know that it is systemic and deeply entrenched and has almost become an institution and a culture and a tradition in the country,” she said.
Community activist Wilhelmina van Dyk said solutions that were out there were either academic or they only focused on particular areas and groups that were being violated.
“We are constantly talking about GBV on various platforms and I think that might be one of the problems, but there are no real and relevant solutions. I often notice in Bellville and in many spots in the city when law enforcement officers and police are packing up these informal traders’ stalls because they are not registered or for whatever (other) reasons.
“In these occurrences there are many women that get shoved away – manhandled – and to me that is violence. Because there are many women informal traders, you can say it is gender-based because the focus is mainly on these women that are mainly trying to make a living, while not discounting that men also get violated,” she said.
Van Dyk said while a lot was being done to fight the scourge, said this was not for the victims that were suffering.
“The people who are helping with regard to abuse are usually smallscale community organisations that are lacking resources to do that,” said Van Dyk.
Saita national director Paul Bester said more than 90% of women were in the informal trading space because they were single parents or it was believed they must “keep the pots warm”.
“It is easy for two metro police officers to tell a small, young female to move over and take their stuff away, knowing she won’t resist. Saita is against GBV ... where one addresses a female in a manner that is derogatory,” said Bester.