Joburg not removing hawkers

Johannesburg - The City of Johannesburg is not on a crusade to rid the CBD of hawkers, a spokesperson said on Saturday.

"Over the past three weeks, the city has been remarking existing trading spaces only to enable proper bylaw enforcement and thus protect traders," spokesperson Virgil James said in a statement.

"There is no Operation Cleansweep under way except for normal bylaw enforcement to ensure that the inner city does not fall into a chaotic state."

James was responding to accusations made by the SA National Traders' Retail Alliance (Santra) that traders had been removed from the CBD in an operation cleansweep.

Spokesperson Edmund Elias said scores of Rissik Street traders were removed from legal trading sites on Friday.

"Last week it was President, Loveday, Kruis and other streets. The fresh operation is smaller - in the hope of going unnoticed - than last year's failed attempt yet just as effective," said Elias.

James, however, refuted the claims. He said Santra's "cleansweep" involved two traders who were outside demarcated areas in Rissik Street who were allocated space in Kerk Street.

"Quite clearly Santra expects trade to take place willy nilly without any prohibition and that is not possible in Joburg or any city for that matter," he said.