27 Jan 2021

Tension seems to be brewing between the Gaborone City Council (GCC) bye law unit and informal traders over the use of gas cylinders in public spaces.

The council is adamant that for safety reasons, use of gas cylinders in public spaces, such as bus rank, is not allowed, while informal traders say they rely on them to prepare the food for sale.

Most of the traders even believe that the small cylinders were specifically made for outdoor use, hence they see no reason to be denied the opportunity to use them.

In an interview with BOPA, Gaborone City Council (GCC) Bye Law Superintendent, Mr Thapelo Ngiye indicated that the department was tasked with ensuring that bye laws were followed for safety of Batswana and their property at all times.

He said the informal sector was the ‘back bone’ of the economy, hence they needed to be regulated.

Mr Ngiye revealed that currently there was no specific law for informal traders, but they were regulated by the hawking and vendor law.

He highlighted that there was constant communication with informal traders as well as their union (Thusanang Bagwebi) on issues such as the important role they play in the economy and informing them on laws they had to abide by.

He indicated that in December, a decision was reached by all concerned parties to stop the use of gas cylinders, but rather use charcoal or gel, after highlighting the risks associated with use of gas cylinders. “They promised that from January 2021 no one will use cylinders,” he said.

Upon realising that gas cylinders were still used, Mr Ngiye said they then decided to enforce the law, which led to some gas cylinders being confiscated in the second week of January 2021.

He said the owners would be liable to a certain charge before they get their cylinders back, and if they do not come forward to answer for and pay the charge, the Council would then sell the cylinders after some time.

Mr Ngiye said anyone who claims to be a council employee should produce a work identity card, with their photo before taking property or money from traders, adding that a seizure of goods forms should also be signed by both the officer and the trader.

“Before dealing with an officer, he/she should clearly identify themselves, that is very important because some people steal from traders claiming to be government officers,” he stressed.

He said to collect the goods, the owner should provide proof of payment and the goods collection form would be signed.

He said there had been an incident in Gaborone where a person lost their life and another where people were injured when gas cylinder exploded, adding that there was also a possibility for properties to be damaged by explosions.

“They will have to pay for such damages that might cost a lot of money, how are they going to pay, we are also saving them from such issues,” he said.

Pertaining to those who were assisted through the Nyeletso Lehuma initiative, with the knowledge that they would be operating from public spaces, Mr Ngiye said there should be coordination between his office and Nyeletso Lehuma to avoid cases where traders end up breaking the law.

“I am aware of such cases where people are given catering equipment through government programmes, including gas cylinders, knowing very well that they would be operating from public spaces like bus rank,” he said, adding that implementation of such initiatives should include bye law officers to give guidance.

Mr Ngiye explained that work was underway at the bus rank to prepare suitable and safe spaces for informal traders to work from.

For his part, Thusanang Bagwebi Chairman, Mr Omphemetse Setlhare indicated that they were aware that gas cylinders were not supposed to be used in public spaces, revealing that the penalty for infringement was between P250 and P500, imprisonment or both.

However, Mr Setlhare explained that the union had engaged GCC, requesting for their members to continue using gas cylinders for a while, since charcoal was not only expensive, but was slow, produces smoke that could be a health hazard and that their operating hours had been reduced.

He said they were surprised to learn that their members’ gas cylinders had been confiscated by bye law officers from at Gaborone bus rank, despite their request, adding that there was no communication from GCC regarding its decision.

He said the other reason why they were surprised by the decision was that some of the informal traders were assisted by the council through the Nyeletso Lehuma programme in terms of equipping them with skills to run businesses as well as catering equipment which included gas cylinders.

“You cannot provide street vendors with equipment knowing very well that they are working from public spaces and come back after some time and confiscate equipment and expect them to pay in order to get it back,” he added.

He said the union was in the process of engaging the council in an effort to iron out all these issues.

Ms Lebogang Tshekiso, an informal trader at the bus rank, expressed disappointment at the way the bye law office handled the issue.

Ms Tshekisi indicated that she was assisted by GCC through Nyeletso Lehuma to grow her already operating business at Gaborone bus rank. She said she was trained and later given catering equipment, adding that there were a lot of informal traders around the city, who were assisted through the programme.

She explained that after the three-week course, they were awarded business management certificates.

“This is so confusing, how can GCC spend a lot of money on us, with the knowledge that we will be operating from the streets and later come back to chase us from such spaces by taking our equipment,” she wondered.

Ms Tshekisi said in the past, bye law officers took two of her gas cylinders and she never got them back.

She explained that the reason why they sometimes never recover their properties from GCC was that they would be told to pay a certain fee in order to get them back and they would not be having the money to pay.

“If you do not have money to pay, you lose your property for good,” she lamented.

She also complained about the way bye law employees talk to them, noting that they treat them like criminals.

Regarding the issue of GCC preparing suitable spaces for them to operate, she said they have been hearing about that for many years, without any progress. ENDS