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STREETNET INFLUENCES GOVERNMENT POLICIES
by Mike Chungu, Lou Haysom, Pat Horn, Lameck Kashiwa
One of StreetNet’s major objectives is to help improve the lives of street vendors. One way of doing this is to persuade governments to adopt progressive policies for the regulation of street vending and informal trade, and provide support for street vendors and other informal traders to assist them earn a better income for the work they do. We are already having success in some countries, where organisations of street vendors which are affiliated to StreetNet are playing a major role in getting their governments to develop new policies on street vending and informal markets.
INDIA
There are thousands of street vendors’organisations in India, and each state in India has different laws about street vending. It has always been difficult for street vendors to speak with one voice and to influence the national government of India. However, after the establishment of the National Alliance of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) the government of India was prepared to negotiate with NASVI as the united voice of street vendors of India. NASVI is the biggest affiliate of StreetNet International, with 389 affiliated organisations of street vendors in different states of India. The Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation of the Government of India formed a Task Force on Street Vendors to develop a national policy on street vendors, and NASVI has been an active part of this Task Force.
NASVI held many meetings with its member organisations in different parts of India, to find out from the street vendors, what issues they wanted to see in the national policy. Now a first draft of the National Policy on Street Vendors is ready. Compared to the traditional approach to street vendors, which regards them as a nuisance, the draft policy has adopted a refreshingly different approach that regards street vendors as citizens with the right to an adequate means of livelihood, deserving a supportive environment for earning their livelihoods.
The policy deals with all the following aspects of street vending:
Additional issues addressed in the draft policy document are access to credit for street vendors, social security, training and skills upgrading to help street vendors “increase their income as well as to look for alternatives”.
The Prime Minister of India sent a letter to the Chief Secretaries of all the State Governments in India, informing them of the process of development of a national policy on street vending, and requesting them to identify a nodal officer through whom the Department would liaise with the State on matters affecting street vendors, and to suspend any punitive actions against street vendors until the national policy is finalised.
ZAMBIA
On October 24, Zambia will celebrate 39 years of independence from the British Empire, but ironically, the Zambian Market Act which goes back further and which has long outlived its usefulness, is still to be repealed. The question being asked by market vendors is why, with its colonial legacy, is the act still in use under a democratic dispensation? There is now at least a broad consensus that the act in its present form is inadequate to provide a transparent and accountable regulatory environment for market vending in the country.
There are two major areas of concern with the Market Act. Under the Act, new markets can only be established with the approval of the Minister of Local Government and Housing, and local authorities have total control over the management of markets.
The council markets built in the 60s no longer have the capacity to accommodate the number of vendors, and markets are filled to capacity. Local authorities are also failing to manage the markets by maintaining the infrastructure and providing services such as water and sewerage, garbage collection, sanitation and security.
Due to lack of space, in some cities including Kitwe, local authorities have allocated sites for trading where market vendors have constructed makeshift stalls. Market vendors are providing services through their committees and associations, yet levies are still collected on a daily basis by the councils.
Using the archaic Market Act, some councils have unilaterally increased the market levy. Recently, the Kitwe City Council increased the levy by 100 percent. Given the intense workers’ education programmes in the informal economy, the market vendors organised by Zambia National Marketeers’ Association (ZANAMA) and the Alliance for Zambia Informal Economy Associations (AZIEA) have gained more confidence and competence in facing the council head on. They refused to accept the increase and demanded that the issue be resolved through negotiations with market vendors.
The Council would not agree to negotiations and resorted to enforcing the collection of the new levy from the market vendors at gunpoint by the state police. This caused market vendors into street protest and subsequently 27 key leaders, including AZIEA President, Elvis Nkandu, were detained.
ZANAMA and AZIEA applied for a court interdict that called for the Council to cancel the levy increase as it was not providing any services commensurate with the levies it collected.
The State President resolved the deadlock when he instituted an all stakeholders’ task force, including the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, to review, among other things, the management of markets.
The Task Force has gathered submissions from market vendors, their associations and concerned citizens. The report detailing recommendations is now under study by the President and Cabinet.
The process is not without flaws. Firstly, the submissions were obtained mainly from the urban areas, and the output is likely to lack a rural perspective which is very important, given the role some chiefs play in rural public places including markets.
Secondly, the focus of policy review on market management was narrow and did not include macro-economic and social policies that would enable market vendors to secure stable incomes and alleviate poverty. Thirdly, while the Task Force was gathering submissions, there were instances of some local authorities demanding increased levies and this made the market vendors lose confidence in the taskforce. It seemed the process was merely academic and not a serious social dialogue to address the problems of market vendors.
The market vendors and their associations have been fighting for recognition from local and national government for a long time. It is a good sign that the state is now opening up and seeking solutions to the predicament of market vendors through negotiation and dialogue and reviewing law that has been outdated for many years.
GHANA
Ghana StreetNet Alliance reports that work has begun in gathering information on informal trade in the Ghana economy in preparation for a policy dialogue process with Government.
The need for policy discussion arises partly from the problems that have been identified as a result of the effects of trade liberalisation. One of these problems is the rapid expansion of the informal sector, estimated to employ 80% of Ghana’s labour force. Official estimates put trade as the occupation of 18.3% of the population, second only to agriculture. A recent govern-ment study on the problems of small farmers and traders in the informal sector highlighted that they are not consulted in the designing or imple-mentation of policy that affects their business and well being, even though they make a significant contribution to the economy. There is a call for the informal sector to design and lead a food marketing strategy to distribute local produce.
SOUTH AFRICA
The municipality of Durban has developed an integrated policy on the informal economy. This policy deals with street vending, but also goes beyond street vending to other areas of work in the informal economy, including the more invisible home-based work, which need planning, regulation or support. Street vendors were consulted by means of focus group discussions, meetings with different organisations representing street vendors in Durban, and a big public meeting in the City Hall to which all street vendors in Durban were invited to put forward their views, concerns and suggestions. StreetNet was consulted in an advisory capacity at various stages of the process.
The outcome was a very impressive Policy on the Informal Economy, which has become widely known as something of an international best practice. Understanding that the policy would be worthless without effective implementation, an Implementation Working Group (IWG) was formed to bring on board more officials and Councillors of the entire Durban Unicity, extending the reach of the policy beyond the two central districts where it originated. This has been a long process, with many ups and downs. But the basic commitment to making the policy work has been sustained even through changes in the personnel responsible for the policy. This in itself makes it an exceptional achievement.
Following these developments, the Provincial Minister of Economic Affairs and Tourism of KwaZulu-Natal (the province within which Durban is situated) decided to initiate a process to develop a policy on the informal economy for the province. A Steering Committee on the Informal Economy was set up, consisting of representatives of street vendors, formal businesses, local government associations, traditional leaders, officials of the Department of Economic Affairs, etc. to advise the Minister and steer the process. StreetNet was asked to be part of the Steering Committee to bring in an element of international expertise. Terms of Reference were prepared by the Steering Committee, which also participated in the selection of consultants and supervised their work. A draft policy is now ready (in the form of a “Green Paper” which is a discussion paper in preparation for the development of provincial policy and the necessary provincial legislation) to be presented to the Provincial Legislature of KwaZulu-Natal.
Both the policy of the Durban Unicity, and the draft policy for KwaZulu-Natal, reflect a change from the traditional outlook towards street vendors, and regard them as part of the economic life of the province and the city. Instead of being seen as a blight on the tourism potential of the city or the province, they are seen as a part of the economic landscape which could even attract tourists and investment with the proper support and facilities. In Durban, regulation has for some time now, been done through a steady process of ongoing negotiations with street vendors through their organisations’ elected representatives, without the resistance and violence which continue to characterise relationships between authorities and street vendors in some other South African cities.