03 Jul 2017

Serowe bye-law officers have given fast foods vendors operating at Serowe mall up to the end of June to wrap up their business as their operations had failed to comply with the law.

Responding to BOPA questionnaire, the council secretary Mr Mozondick Moswete explained that the vendors were not being evicted, instead they were being requested to comply with the laws relating to their operations.

He further explained that the council was against cooking of food using gas cylinders in front of business operations, adding some of the concerned business operations have already submitted complaints to the council.

Mr Moswete went on to explain that failure to comply with the laws had been observed with regards to Public Health Act, unfair competition to licensed traders in the same line of trade among many others.

He said they recently held a consultative meeting with the concerned traders to enlighten them about expectations and alternatives they could opt for to cater for their operation.

The council secretary said they had agreed to wrapup  their operations on June 30.

Mr Moswete indicated that they would continue to engage them further and other key stakeholders like political leaders to map a way forward.

The official said legal actions in the form of fines, confiscation of goods and legal proceedings would apply whereby one failed to comply.

He said the council was aware of these vendors and how they had been making their income as a source of employment, and he explained that during the meeting with them they were advised on the necessary steps to take in order to operate legally and safely.

Mr Moswete indicated that the CDC was still undergoing consideration of identifying space that would be designated to the concerned vendors away from business operations and he said however this was a process which required stakeholders like physical planning and land board assistance.

Among the many fast foods sellers in Serowe, a 37 year old Mr Lefatshe Mmolawa who sells hotdog said the decision had left him feeling hopeless as he had found a way to get him out of poverty with this business.

He explained that he started his business way back in 2009, though it was on and off at the time. Of recent, he said his business was doing very well, in demand and well established.

Lamenting about the situation, he said the business had been his life, putting food on the table and was not worried about finding a job as he had his own business to run.

Explaining that he had no competition as he was the only one selling hotdog with wors, he said he was making a lot of money as he could sell 120 hotdogs a day at P13 and on busy days like holidays he said he would sell up to 200 hotdogs a day.

He said as a vendor these businesses helped them to send their children to schools and did not rely on government schemes like other youths.

Mr Mmolawa said he was concerned that if this decision was not withdrawn they were going to suffer and be involved in a race to look for jobs which were very scarce.

He explained that with the money he had been making, he had already started a building project at home and now he was going to be left with nothing to complete it.

He went on to say that shop spaces were expensive to rent and that he did not understand how the process of getting a food market worked.

Another seller who specialises in fresh chips Ms Nikita Kgosiesele shares the sentiments with Mmolawa saying this was heavy blow given that she had been making about P600-P700 a day.

“Given the business’ lucrativeness, I together with other sellers were planning to obtain Mabogo Dinku loan from CEDA to expand our business. The plan was to jointly raise the required 10 per cent and then share the money and buy mobile kitchens to enable us to run more civilly.”   

She said although they were working toward raising the required capital, the present development has shattered their dreams. ENDS