Mercury: Market traders, cops clash

http://www.themercury.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=vn20090616052926246C772391

Market traders, cops clash
16 June 2009, 07:21

By Sinegugu Ndlovu

Five people sustained minor injuries on Monday when traders at the Early Morning Market in Durban’s Warwick Junction clashed with metro police officers as tensions between the traders and the city continued to simmer.

The traders claimed they were attacked without provocation, while the metro police said they had been forced to fire rubber bullets to contain traders trying to force their way into the market.

The eThekwini Municipality was accused of defying a court order permitting traders access to the market.

While the city said that only traders without permits were not allowed entry on Monday, the traders claimed that permit holders had also been barred from the market site.

On Saturday, the traders applied for a court order preventing the city from closing the market or denying entry to all traders. Their lawyers argued that the city had been accepting rent for the stalls even from people who did not have licences and questioned why they were being barred from trading there.

The order was granted by Durban High Court Judge King Ndlovu and would be valid until this Friday. However, it was in dispute whether the order applied to all traders or just to those with trading permits and, while the market would be open on Wednesday, the matter remained unresolved.

The city’s Business Support Unit head, Phillip Sithole, said the city had not been in contempt of court in acting on Monday because the order granted to the traders only applied to those with permits.

Metro police spokesperson Joyce Khuzwayo said officers had been forced to use rubber bullets when the traders tried to force their way into the market without producing trading permits. She said three people had been arrested on public violence charges.

“The traders without licences outnumbered those with permits and tried to force their way in. They were a stronger force and we were forced us to use rubber bullets,” she said.

Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said five people had sustained minor injuries and were taken to Addington Hospital.

Roy Chetty, of Durban, said he had been walking past the market when he saw the police cordon off the area. He said traders with licences had moved into the market’s parking area on the officers’ orders when they were “viciously attacked” without provocation.

“It happened quickly. The traders weren’t being violent. The police jumped over the boundary wall and started shooting. People were shot in the face and some in the back,” Chetty said.

The conflict between the city and traders is over a proposed multimillion-rand development of Warwick Junction, which would include a shopping mall. The traders are opposed to relocating to make way for the mall, which they argue would destroy their livelihoods.