Around 1 300 informal traders received Covid-19 Informal Traders’ Toolkits at four venues in Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Athlone and Cape Town Civic Centre on Wednesday.
Each toolkit, which is free of charge to informal traders, contains three litres of hand sanitiser; a social-distancing mat to remind customers to keep 1.5m from traders; two cloth masks; a winter beanie and a toolkit bag.Â
Mayor Dan Plato said the City is offering the tool kit to the informal sector to help them take the necessary precautions to reopen safely and resume trading.
“We are committed to doing all we can to support residents, traders and small business owners in providing some reassurance and comfort during the pandemic. This toolkit is one of the many initiatives we have rolled out to lessen the impact of Covid-19 on our residents.”
The first phase of beneficiaries included informal traders from some of the City’s most vulnerable hotspot areas.Â
This includes traders from areas such as Dunoon, Gatesville, Bellville, Mitchell’s Plain, Philippi as well as Langa, Imizamo Yethu, Strand, Kuils River and Khayelitsha, where there is also a high dependency on income generated from informal trading activities.
Informal trader Pumlisa Diamond, from Dunoon, said: “No one has supported my business with anything before, this is the first time I feel like I matter, thank you to the City.”
Lulama Mgodini, an informal trader from Dunoon, said: “I am very grateful to the City for this free gift. It will save me money and keep me safe while trading on the streets.”
They are among 10 000 informal traders registered on the City’s database, who have Covid-19 permits and concession letters.Â
The toolkits will be distributed over the coming weeks aimed to help traders and their customers to do business in a safe environment, compliant with Covid-19 protocols.
Informal traders who are registered with the City’s informal trading database, have Covid-19 permits and concession letters, will be contacted by the City via SMS and will need to indicate by responding to the message if they are interested in the offer. Thereafter, more details, including collection of the toolkits, will be communicated directly to qualifying informal traders.
Call 021 400 3131 (select option 6 for informal trading) or email informal.trading@capetown.gov.za or Business.support@capetown.go.za for more information.
