http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3892999
Police arrest 500 street traders
METRO Police yesterday arrested about 500 street vendors who were protesting against the arrest of 25 of their colleagues on Monday.
A group of vendors had gathered outside the Durban Magistrate’s Court in Somtseu Road demanding that their colleagues, who had been arrested in the Warwick Triangle, be released.
Pleas for them to disperse fell on deaf ears. The protesters congregated outside the court gates and tried to force their way in, saying that they would not leave until their companions were released. Many carried posters calling on the municipality to do away with the Business Support Unit, which they claimed had done nothing constructive for street traders.
The 25 vendors were arrested on Monday when they resisted a Metro Police operation enforcing bylaws.
The protestors littered Somtseu Road with boulders, pieces of wood, rubbish bins, concrete slabs and bricks, and pelted the police with missiles.
The Metro Police cordoned off the road at the Stanger Street intersection, while the SA Police Service’s Crime Combating and Public Order units were called in to prevent the group from entering the court precinct.
Police moved in after the traders refused to disperse, first targeting those who had rocks and sticks. In the aftermath, shoes were lying everywhere, left behind by people attempting to flee the stun grenades and a water cannon.
As police herded the traders into trucks, a lone woman was seen collecting their shoes, hats and a cellphone that had been dropped. The sheer number of those arrested meant that police vehicles had to make several trips to take the arrested traders to jail. Police Supt Vincent Mdunge said the traders would be charged with public violence and with attending an illegal gathering.
Earlier in the morning, police had used rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse about 300 traders on Soldier’s Way as they attempted to march to the court building.
Themba Duma, a spokesman for the Informal Traders’ Management Board, an umbrella organisation representing Durban’s street traders, said that vendors could not afford the increased cost of demarcated trading sites.
He also complained that there were no shelters and no water for licensed traders.
Philip Sithole, spokesman for the Business Support Unit, said that progress had been made at a meeting yesterday afternoon of Metro Police officials, representatives of the informal traders and Municipal Manager Mike Sutcliffe.
It had been agreed that the traders would still be subject to rentals but that they would be able to pay these on a quarterly basis, with three months to be paid upfront. The Business Support Unit would be open to negotiating extended payment plans for those who could not afford the fees.
Sithole added that rentals for 2008 and 2009 would be discussed this year to avoid a repeat of the clashes. He said that raids and enforcement of bylaws would continue in an effort to root out those operating without permits or outside designated trading areas, which would be determined by street trader leaders, the Metro Police and the Business Support Unit.
Sithole said the police might free some of those arrested during yesterday’s clashes, but that those who had been violent would be prosecuted.
A Netcare 911 spokesman said two women had required medical assistance.
Update
http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3895088
Arrested informal traders released
June 21, 2007 Edition 1
PROFfEsOR NDAWONDE
HUNDREDS of informal traders who were arrested during two separate protests in central Durban this week were released by the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Families, friends and informal traders’ leaders packed the premises of the court to support those charged with public violence and gathering illegally.
Because of the number of accused, the prosecutor and magistrate went down to the cells, where the proceedings took place.
Ecstasy and contentment were written on the faces of those released. However, they complained of brutal treatment at the hands of police.
Nokulunga Dlamini said police had forced them to sleep on the floor. “Oppression is not over,” she said. “The police are still abusing people.”
The traders were arrested during clashes with police on Monday and Tuesday.
On Monday, the traders threw stones and bottles at the police, who responded with rubber bullets, stun grenades and a water cannon. Twenty-five vendors were arrested.
Hundreds of vendors marched to the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, demanding their colleagues’ release. The police moved in after the traders refused to disperse and arrested more than 500 of them.
A spokesman for the Informal Traders’ Management Board, Themba Duma, said that the traders would return to their posts today.
“I’m happy that our companions were released, but we are going to protest until the city meets our demands,” he said.
The traders are to appear in court again on July 27.