Protesting vendors say relocations have killed trade

Windhoek informal traders say relocation by the City of Windhoek has cost them customers and income, with some claiming they now earn as little as N$20 a day.A group of vendors marched from Zoo Park to Government Park on Wednesday to hand over a petition to urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa to ask that he intervene.Addressing the demonstrators, Katutura Residents Committee chairperson Benestus Kandundu accused the municipality of implementing its relocation measures without adequately consulting the affected vendors, arguing that the decision failed to consider the locations where traders had established their businesses.He said that the City should have engaged the vendors before making changes to their trading arrangements.“Most of these vendors, where they have been trading, they identify those points as suitable to the business that they are conducting,” Kandundu said.“Currently, there are people who are making N$20 per day as a result of the City of Windhoek's action,” he added.Kandundu also argued that the economic challenges associated with the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak have worsened vendors' livelihoods.He said the committee had attempted to secure meetings with the City on several occasions but had not succeeded in opening a channel for dialogue.Essential income lostOne of the affected vendors, Maria Hango, said she previously sold goods in the Southern Industrial area before being moved by City Police.Hango alleged that officers confiscated their goods and issued them tickets amounting to N$500, leaving vendors struggling to pay the fines.She also raised concerns about the handling of confiscated food, claiming that some products were placed in a refrigerator while they were being held by authorities.“When we go and ask them about the food, they say they don't care about the food. They just care about their ticket,” she alleged.Hango said vendors had initially been informed by the municipality that certain trading locations were approved, and some of them had started making payments before they were allegedly later told that the locations were no longer authorised.She said being forced to sell from their homes was not a practical alternative because they have struggled to attract customers.She said their livelihoods had been severely impacted by the reduction in trade.“The money we make is what we use to pay our school fees for our kids and survive through our lives so that we can go forward,” Hango said.City ‘unaware’During the petition handover, Kandundu appealed to Sankwasa to facilitate dialogue between the vendors and the municipality, alleging that some traders had been relocated to the riverbed while others had lost their established clientele.During the handover, Sankwasa was accompanied by Windhoek mayor Sakarias Uunona, City CEO Moses Matyayi and legal advisor Benedict Ngairorue.“I brought the council to respond to your needs,” Sankwasa told the vendors and instructed the City's representatives to address the vendors' complaints of unsuccessful attempts to secure meetings.Uunona disputed the suggestion that the City had refused to engage with the traders, saying he was not aware of the alleged attempts to arrange meetings.Sankwasa indicated that the vendors would receive a response by next Friday.

Protesting vendors say relocations have killed trade

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Namibian Sun 2026-11-13

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Protesting vendors say relocations have killed trade

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Namibian Sun 2026-11-13

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