SERI hails court ruling ordering CoJ to speed up allocation of trading stalls

The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) has welcomed the court order directing the City of Johannesburg to accelerate the verification of informal traders.

Earlier on Monday, the Gauteng High Court ordered the City to speed up the allocation of trading stalls to approved hawkers.

READ: CoJ says court ruling ordering it to speed up verification & registration of informal traders 'a victory'

SERI took legal action against the City after it removed unauthorised traders operating in undesignated areas without municipal permits.

While the city regards the ruling as a win for the rule of law, SERI emphasised that it is also a win for traders who had been sidelined.

The Gauteng High Court has ordered the City of Johannesburg to expedite the allocation of trading stalls to verified informal traders between Tuesday and 18 November.

However, the verification process will prevent undocumented foreign nationals and those who do not meet the required criteria from operating as informal traders.

SERI’s director for litigation, Nkosinathi Sithole, said if the NGO had not taken legal action against the city, there would have been no urgency to accelerate the verification of informal traders.

"We were able to get what the traders were looking for, which is to be regularised. That is a victory for the traders and the organisation. Had it not been for this litigation, we would have found ourselves in a position where traders are forgotten, as was the city’s intention."

Meanwhile, the traders will not be allowed to return to work until the city allocates them stalls in designated areas.

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