By Tasmi Quazi
Patrick Ndlovu is the co-founder and Senior Project Officer of Asiye eTafuleni (AeT). Due to his extensive experience of working with informal workers, in Durban’s inner-city in particular, he is regarded as one of the most skilled social facilitators globally within the development domain of the informal economy. Below is a personal account of his passage from being an enforcement agent against informal trading to being one of its strongest advocates, including his experience of the City’s approach to informal trading over the 26 years that he has worked in this realm:
Working as a Metro Police Officer
I started my professional career as a Metro Police officer for 6 years. My prime duties were to enforce bylaws for informal traders at a time that informal trading was not accepted and considered illegal. This involved the issuing of summons and confiscation of traders’ goods. Eventually, the City realised that this was a futile exercise and trading was then legalised around the Warwick Avenue and the beach front precincts…”
The City’s Approach Then and Now
…At the beginning, there were less people trading and only three police vans were in charge of the central Durban area including the beaches, the northern and southern areas. However, towards 1988 there was an exponential growth of informal trading with the collapse of the apartheid influx laws…
…Most of the traders were elderly women and mothers carrying their babies selling second hand clothing and fruit and veggies around Warwick Avenue. I did feel guilty confiscating their goods but we tried to give due warning in the past. Nonetheless, confiscation of trader goods were not as bad and frequent as it is now. The interesting thing is that traders were allowed to hawk in the past, as in roam around and sell, but traders operating from fixed places weren’t allowed. Whereas now, fixed trading is allowed and hawking is not allowed, but we need to find a way to accommodate both…”
The Democratic Change in Favour of Informal Trading
…In 1991, the Department of Informal Trade and Small Business Opportunities (ITSBO) was established which was restructured later and renamed the Business Support Unit (BSU). I applied and was accepted for the position of an Area Manager, and I served in this position for 16 years. The manager of ITSBO happened to be an ex-Metro Police Sergeant and he basically head hunted three of us former police officers because of our knowledge of street trading bylaws and our good working relationship with the traders over the years…
…It was a very difficult transition from being an enforcement official to being an Area Manager. This meant a continual process of negotiation compared to the past. However, because of the new political climate in favour of democracy and engagement, punitive actions were suspended. My core function was to manage informal trading through administrative tasks, dispute resolution and also facilitating the provision of infrastructure for traders…
…In 2005, I was transferred within the same capacity to Pinetown, and served there for 3 years. This is because there was no BSU in Pinetown, which meant that we had to replicate our experience gained from Warwick, for instance, in strengthening bylaws, building infrastructure, allocation and demarcation of trading sites and issuing of permits…”
The Change in the Developmental Approach
…In 2008, when South Africa won the right to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the City was reverting back to the old tactics of punitive measures through enforcement of FIFA bylaws and forceful removal of traders. It seemed as if the City was more interested in revenue collection than in sustaining its award-winning developmental approach established through progressive policies and implementation work in Warwick Junction and then in other areas of Durban…”
Renewed Developmentalism through AeT
…Having established good working relations with traders over 26 years, I found it difficult to abandon them after I resigned from BSU in 2008. When the opportunity presented itself to co-found Asiye eTafuleni, in the spirit of continuing to improve the livelihoods of informal traders; I could not resist being a part of this renewed endeavour.”
