An informal market that has mushroomed in suburban Walmer has sparked an outcry among residents who fear their property values are at risk, while some have raised concerns over hygiene, security and traffic safety.
The illegal market on 9th Avenue, Walmer, between Villiers and Buffelsfontein roads, is one of several around the city where vigorous entrepreneurship is clashing with the rights of homeowners.
The Walmer informal market runs on Saturday mornings on the west side of 9th Avenue, on the verge outside the Joy to the Nations Church.
Traders also park their vehicles in the public open space across the road on the east side of 9th Avenue.
On Saturday, business was booming, with hundreds of people congregated in the area and everything from clothes, vegetables and fruit to mopani worms being sold, along with live chickens, braaied mealies and pork chops.
A Walmer resident and businessman said the uncontrolled expansion was a problem.
“It started off as a small affair with a couple of people selling clothes, but now there are a lot of people milling around on what is a busy corner,” he said.
“It’s dangerous and there are no ablutions.
“The market is not good for property values or security because it’s attracting undesirable characters who are loitering around.”
He said traders usually had to apply to various departments to get zoning and site permits, as well as public health, safety and traffic approvals, and it seemed clear no applications had been made in this case.
“In my view, this market should be relocated,” he said.
“There is a designated trading area across Bufffelsfontein Road on the edge of Walmer Township.
“To me, that would be the perfect spot.”
Several other residents, who also asked not to be named, voiced their concerns.
One man said he was concerned about the safety aspect.
“When you come up Villiers from 8th Avenue to the intersection with 9th, and you look left, you can’t see if cars are coming or not because of all the vehicles from the market parked there.
“So you end up taking a chance.
“There have been a number of accidents there because of that.
“For that reason alone this is not a good place to have a market.”
He said the traders did apparently have a system to clean up afterwards.
“But still a lot of litter from the market blows down Villiers and into our properties.”
He said the market was getting steadily bigger and the related problems were burgeoning.
“Because there are no ablutions, the traders just go into the gardens of nearby residents. It’s not nice.”
Another resident said the situation was unacceptable.
“There are no ablutions and the hawkers cook and sell food on site.
“There are people getting drunk and the filth left behind afterwards is indescribable.
“We can’t even walk our dogs there any more.
“It is impacting negatively on property values in the area.”
She said the situation was baffling because it usually cost Bay citizens tens of thousands of rand to acquire business rights, which were also strictly zoned.
“Have these traders got permission to be here and to be operating like they are?
“Why isn’t the metro monitoring the situation and at the very least penalising the obvious transgression of bylaws?
“I appreciate that these people are trying to make a living but they must not do it on our doorstep like this.”
Another resident said the vast majority of the traders seemed to be foreign nationals.
Ward three councillor Dave Hayselden said he had communicated the residents’ concerns to the metro.
“I have alerted the city manager and a number of different departments and directorates, including public health, waste management, economic development and the metro police.
“Metro officials have responded but the situation is not resolved.
“When they started bringing in live chickens, the situation degenerated.
“I received a complaint that they were chopping chickens’ heads off on site, and reported that to the Metro Police.
“They went to check but did not find anything in this regard.
“The metro must check the situation out properly and resolve the concerns.
“I won’t stop pushing until that is done.”
He said the traders had obviously picked the spot, as opposed to the designated trading area across Buffelsfontein, because they wanted to catch passers-by from the suburb, who would not be prepared to cross over to the township side of the road.
“But the suitability and legality of the site must be checked.”
One of the original 9th Avenue traders, Alice Magombo, was doing brisk business on Saturday selling braaied mealies.
She said she had been doing the same thing at the same spot for about two years, and during the week it was still just her and one other trader.
She said a community leader from Walmer Township had objected to the rubbish left around after the Saturday markets, so she had helped to organise a cleanup that would activate each time after the traders finished up.
“Each trader gives R10 towards paying the people who do the cleanup.”
Brothers Bonginkosi and Andy Tsotsa head the cleanup team with their father, and at 11.45am on Saturday the siblings were walking around collecting the money and recording the transactions in an exercise book.
Bonginkosi said he understood some of the concerns raised by residents but they were doing their best to keep things shipshape.
“When everyone finishes here we will be cleaning up with bags.
“It would help a lot if there were dustbins.
“It would also be great if there were toilets.”
Das Moses was poring over her cellphone while waiting for customers to buy her chickens, which cost R100 each.
The birds were sitting on straw inside a trailer covered with wire mesh.
Moses said buyers took the live birds away and there was no slaughtering on site.
Metro spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said the metro was aware of the concerns about the 9th Avenue market and it was addressing them.
“At present, no trading permits have been issued for this site,” he said.
“The city does have a designated trading area across the road that is better suited and equipped for such activity, and we are engaging with the affected traders to relocate them in a way that ensures both compliance with municipal bylaws and respect for their livelihoods.”
He said the metro shared residents’ concerns about sanitation and safety.
“Our environmental health and law enforcement teams are conducting inspections and interventions to ensure trading activities do not pose health risks or compromise the safety of surrounding properties.
“This includes addressing the absence of ablution facilities and ensuring any prohibited practices such as on-site slaughter are halted.
“We appreciate residents bringing these concerns forward and assure them steps are being taken, with enforcement and relocation measures expected to take effect in the coming days.”
The Herald
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