Green Point market traders 'disgruntled' over cancellation of trading days

Organisers of the Green Point Market are scheduled to meet with City of Cape Town officials next week to address ongoing operational issues, particularly the contentious cancellation of trading dates at short notice.

The traders' most recent Sunday market was cancelled due to a soccer match taking place at the nearby DHL Stadium. The market operates in the P4 parking lot, a space that becomes unavailable when major events are held at the stadium precinct.

The area is also a designated holding space under the City's Events and Disaster Risk Management plans.

Lance Greyling, the City's Director for Economic Development and Investment, explained that during events, the venue must remain available to respond to emergencies or unforeseen circumstances.

“It also became unviable because events supersede it. Unfortunately, what happens is that this is a very popular precinct, particularly for events, and when there isn’t an event, we certainly want to have the market, but when there is an event, this always happens,” Greyling stated.

Rosheda Muller, Chairperson of the Green Point Market and President of the National Informal Traders Alliance of South Africa (NITASA), voiced the traders' frustration, emphasising that many informal traders depend on the market for their livelihood.

“We are disgruntled; we feel that we’ve had an unfair deal. We are going into a meeting on the 15th of October with the City, but other than that, we are extremely disappointed in what the City has given us as a raw deal after a 15-year wait," said Muller.