22 Feb 2024

Francistown City Council (FCC) consulted the informal sector before evicting them from the central market place to make way for envisaged developments.

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Setlhabelo Modukanele said this when answering a question in Parliament on Tuesday.  

He explained that the city council consulted and engaged extensively with the current occupants through their association to make way for the envisaged developments.

He, however, said after the process proved futile, the city council decided to evict them through a court order.

He said the decision to redevelop the central market was taken as far back as 2003 when the city council, through its structures, proposed to redevelop the urban core and identified its properties along the Blue Jacket corridor as economic nodes.

Consequently, he said the FCC finance committee approved the redevelopment of the central market plot in 2004 and outsourced it to a 100 per cent citizen owned private company. He explained that the redevelopment of the plot included market stalls, commercial activities, offices and other related activities.

“The plan was to incorporate informal sector activities into the new development while uplifting the market as well as activating the economy of the city. A decision was made to lease the plot to a Motswana company to uplift the market which will be accommodating small scale businesses and the informal sector.

Even the current tenant will provide informal sector stalls and art and gallery exhibition stalls as a way of accommodating and preserving the history of the plot,” he said.

Mr Modukanele pointed out that the city council never rescinded on its decision to redevelop the central market plot.

He, however, noted that the city council terminated the agreement it had with a citizen owned company in 2018, and that the property was advertised to other citizen owned companies in line with the designated use and was awarded to another Motswana owned company in 2020.

He added that FCC recognised the role played by the informal sector in the economy of the city. To that effect, he said a number of initiatives were developed, including the informal sector policy and guidelines to manage, activate, organise and grow the informal sector in the city.

“The city council with the assistance of the UNDP and its stakeholders, including the informal sector association, has been consulting on the new informal sector strategy and bye-laws which are at an advanced stage.

These efforts demonstrate government’s commitment to the growth of the informal sector as it plays a meaningful role in the economy,” the assistant minister said.

Mr Modukanele said it was not true that 200 job opportunities were lost, stating that licensing reports indicated that only 55 market stalls were involved in the eviction.

He said the redevelopment of the place was projected to create 150 jobs during construction and an estimated 200 permanent jobs at the operational phase.  

He said the projects would result in the construction of 38 stand-alone stalls, a theatre for performing arts which would accommodate artists and around 50 spectators as well as an art gallery.

Francistown West MP, Mr Ignatius Moswaane had asked whether the minister was aware that FCC destroyed the market which was built for the black people of Francistown, and to state the number of stalls that were destroyed. ENDS