Traders from the Cape Town station deck marched on PRASA offices to complain about high rents and poor security. Photo by Masixole Feni.
21 August 2015
About 350 traders from the Cape Town station taxi rank marched to the Passenger Rail Agency (PRASA) offices in Cape Town to complain about rents.
The stall owners locked their shops and marched to PRASA offices to hand over a memorandum on rent and security. The traders said PRASA had promised to provide proper trading structures and security for the traders before the 2010 World Cup. But instead they had been given containers as temporary structures, for which they paid R980 every month until PRASA increased the amount to R1200.
Stall owner Sonja Akinjole said: “When we moved here the rent was R980 and double containers were R2,000. We went to them several times and asked them to please decrease the rent because it is too high for us.”
“They are treating us like nobodies, they don’t even want to sit with us and hear our grievances.”
Vuyokazi Mzinyathi, 40, said with the little money she makes from selling vetkoek and coffee she has to take care of her mother and three children. “This is the only source of income we depend on, but I send most of the profit paying rent.”
Mzinyathi has had her stall for five years now. She pays R1,200 rent and has to buy electricity.
The chairperson of the Top Deck Traders’ Association, Mcebisi Dosi, said the traders had given PRASA seven days to respond to the memorandum. “We have a meeting with management on Tuesday. If they do not give us a way forward we will continue with the march.”
“We don’t want them to lose business because we understand that they also have to pay for services such as cleaning and security.”
In the memorandum the traders said they had been trying to persuade PRASA for almost two years to decrease the rent.
They said they were also protesting against electricity charges which amounted to more than R100 a week.
PRASA regional Manager Lindelo Matya accepted the memorandum and promised to get back to the stall owners within seven days.
“We will get back to you. We had already started negotiations with your committee but unfortunately you were not there. We will call your committee again and discuss the way forward. We need you, you need us and I think if we have that attitude we’ll solve many many other things,” said Matya.