I am pleased to officially announce the readiness of our long-awaited digital permit system for Informal Traders. A first of its kind, the system will change the face of informal trade across the City, by assisting to ensure an organised informal trade sector and better regulation of business operations and delivery of services by the City's departments and entities.
The system is the result of the collaboration between the Metro Trading Company, an Economic Development Entity tasked with advancing and maintaining the digital transformation of the City and all its regions, and Department's own Informal Trading Unit. The effective teamwork to date has ensured that we can now begin the work of transforming the lives and lived experiences of informal traders and those who depend on them.
Informal economic activity is increasingly recognised as an important component of Johannesburg's overall economic growth strategy. In line with the Multi-Party Government's Mayoral priority of an Inclusive and Smart City, the newly developed digital permit system provides for an effective and streamlined application handling process that will use the latest technology to support this strategy and priority.
As the Multi-Party Coalition Government, we believe that a regulated informal trade sector, adhering to the dictates of the policy, will ensure more revenue streams into the pockets of businesses and ultimately improve the livelihoods of not only the traders but also the residents of Johannesburg.
Regulation of the informal trade sector offers clear benefits for informal traders, the City and its various stakeholders, including:
- Ensuring safety and security by explicitly guiding bylaw enforcement.
- Guiding the municipality's interventions needed by informal traders in supporting the informal trade sector.
- Improvement of service delivery by the City's departments and entities including leasing, waste management, water, sanitation, etc.
- Supporting the effective monitoring of products and services in line with regulatory standards.
Over the coming weeks, we will be embarking on phase one of our roll-out of the system. This phase will include;
- stakeholder engagement with informal traders, property owners and residents;
- the onboarding, vetting and verification of traders; as well as
- the allocation of trading stalls, in line with the Informal Trading Policy as approved by the CoJ Council in April this year, to ensure its efficiency and effectiveness ahead of a City-wide launch at the start of the new year.
We look forward to working with all law-abiding traders, property owners and residents to effectively manage the informal trading environment and provide government support to the informal traders.
The ultimate goal is to see each of these traders move up the value chain, into formal trade and scale up their businesses over time. The work of fixing our economy is not easy, but it is happening in earnest and will bear fruit over time.
-ENDS-
For media enquiries, please contact:
Tamlyn Geldenhuis
Media Liaison Specialist
Office of the MMC: Economic Development
060 543 4703
17/11/2022
