Vendors criticise Gauteng Edu Dept's ban on selling of food at schools
The department believes limiting food sales outside schools will help manage potential contamination sources.
FILE: Informal street vendors wait for clients in front of a wall that reads “BOOKED FOR EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) ” during a campaign rally at the Alexandra stadium in Johannesburg on 27 April 2024. Picture: EMMANUEL CROSET/AFP
JOHANNESBURG - Local vendors prohibited from selling outside schools are criticising the Gauteng Education Department’s new ban.
It was implemented on Friday as part of the department's effort to control the rising cases of food contamination that have recently proven fatal for some children.
The restriction is set to last until the end of the school year.
The department believes limiting food sales outside schools will help manage potential contamination sources.
However, traders dependent on these daily sales feel unfairly targeted.
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Lebogang Nkosi, a longtime vendor in Katlehong spoke out about the hardships vendors now face without consultation or warning.
"It's a very hard situation to deal with, especially if you're caught with your pants down. So we're still trying to get our heads around it."
Nkosi dismissed claims that vendors' suppliers are involved in selling contaminated goods, insisting that their relationship with suppliers remains strong despite growing public distrust.
"The relationship between us and the suppliers, it’s still okay it's just that there's been that ambivalence now among us with everything else that has been going on."