Tshwane mayor warns informal traders not to pay for Marabastad stalls

The mayor advised traders to be careful about who they handed money to. Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya has warned informal traders against paying anyone for space at the new Marabastad stalls, saying only the city can allocate them. Moya cautioned traders on Saturday that no one outside the municipality could sell them trading space at the newly built stalls in Marabastad. “I want to clarify that these stalls are not for sale,” Moya said. According to the mayor, the city alone would decide who received a stall. “The City is in charge of allocating trading space,” she stated. How stalls will be allocated Moya said traders had been tagging her on social media, claiming that something was going wrong with the allocations. She responded by explaining how the process would work. “Only once traders are verified and approved will they be allocated stalls,” she said. She added that a list of traders had already been drafted and agreed on, and that extra space would go to more traders. Moya said the selection would be based on what traders sold and how they traded, not on names. “There is a criterion that has been devised on who will benefit,” she explained. Traders told to pay only city officials The mayor advised traders to be careful about who they handed money to. According to Moya, the only acceptable payment was a fee charged by city officials under a signed contract. She also urged anyone who had already paid such people to get their money back. Mayor vows fair and transparent process Moya said the stalls would not launch until all traders were satisfied the process had been fair. She also said she would not be pushed around by those trying to derail the project. “So one thing that I don’t do is to cave into silly pressure of people who want to derail us,” she stated. Moya noted that the project had already faced delays and promised traders that the process would be open and honest. “I just want to assure the traders in Marabastad that nothing is going to happen that is not fair and that is not transparent,” she said.