Court orders Joburg to fast-track informal trader verification

By Akani Nkuna

The South Gauteng High Court has ordered the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) to accelerate the verification and registration of informal traders within the next two weeks.

The judgment follows a legal challenge brought by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI), which sought to halt the removal of informal traders operating in undesignated areas without permits.

Judge Brad Wanless directed the city to “conduct and expedite verification, registration, re-registration, and allocation processes as contemplated by the informal trading by-laws promulgated in the provincial gazette.”

SERI had argued that the city’s officials were violating traders’ constitutional right to earn a living, citing a pattern of unlawful evictions and a lack of viable alternatives or support for affected traders.

Judge Wanless also ordered the matter to be referred to mediation under the Gauteng High Court’s revised protocol and directed the City of Johannesburg to bear the costs of the mediation process.