It’s not about the G20, Morero says again, as city heads back to court over informal trader evictions

Inside Metros Reporter

In his Mayor’s Weekly Update, published on Sunday, Johannesburg executive mayor Dada Morero was cast as a compassionate politician who was evicting informal traders without permits not because of the upcoming G20 leaders summit, but to restore order to the city.

The city is returning to the South Gauteng High Court on Monday to oppose an urgent application by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) to halt the removal of the traders.

The matter was supposed to be heard on Friday, with SERI representing about 500 members of the informal traders forum, but negotiations over the relocation of traders failed, and the matter was postponed. 

In his update, Morero said the city would continue enforcing by-laws. “We won’t allow anybody to trade on the road illegally or anywhere else, unless in [designated] places”.  

The ANC-led metro is desperately trying to clean-up the inner city and restore