The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Management, Alderman Grant Twigg is pleased to announce that the Mayoral Committee held on Tuesday, 7 December 2021 approved an Informal Trading Permit Fee Relief.
The Area Economic Development Directorate has been inundated with requests for informal trading permit fee relief by the informal trading sector in the last number of months since the implementation of the Covid-19 pandemic regulations. Informal traders across the city have been raising concerns about their inability to pay their permit fees due to the negative impact of lockdown and subsequent restrictions.
‘As a responsive and caring City, giving effect to the Mayor’s seven electoral pledges, we heard the plight of the Informal Trader Sector and I am therefore pleased to announce that the Mayoral Committee:
- Approved an informal trading permit fee relief to active informal traders for the period: 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2022, where no informal trading tariffs will be payable to the City.
- Approved that all informal trading permit fees paid in advance be credited into informal traders’ trading accounts,’ said Alderman Grant Twigg, Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Management.
This is subject to final approval at the Council Meeting on Wednesday, 15 December 2021.
Appeals have been made to the Urban Management Directorate by the representatives of the informal trading sector, for financial reprieve and permit fee relief.
The current Covid-19 pandemic and its restrictions have disproportionately harmed the informal trading sector in our country and globally. The economic fortunes of the informal trading sector directly depend on the daily retail footfall of customers for earnings and survival. Put differently, the Covid-19 pandemic and its accompanying restrictions drastically reduced the demand side, especially the customers for the informal traders.
Though plausible, the government restrictions on the movement of people to curb the spread of Covid-19; had unintended consequences for the informal trading sector, including traders experiencing a massive loss of income and others being entirely taken out of business. In addition, this economic crisis was further deepened by some parts of the National Covid-19 Regulations restricting trading in certain types of goods. Therefore, it is no exaggeration that the informal trading sector in the City of Cape Town has been hit extremely hard by the Covid-19 crisis. As a result, the informal trading sector is currently on its knees, trying to recover from this significant unprecedented negative impact.
Source: City Of Cape Town