By Kefiloe Kajane
The Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro led a cabinet delegation on a visit to street vendors at Ha Thetsane in Maseru on Thursday.
Majoro was accompanied by the minister of small business, development and cooperatives Thesele Masirabane, the minister of local government Samuel Rapapa and Maseru City Council (MCC).
The visit follows the demolition last year, of the vendors’ shacks, whereby MCC claimed the vendors were not licensed to trade there.
That did not sit well with the street vendors who protested that selling on the streets was their only way of making a living.
After inspecting the area and also confering with the vendors, the entourage promised to come back in two weeks with a concrete plan that will not only benefit the Ha Thetsane vendors, but other small traders in a similar situation.
Maseribane indicated that it is important for his ministry and other stakeholders to come together to develop regulations that will enable street vendors to access proper infrastructure to avoid run-ins with the law, and evictions.
On behalf of the street vendors, Liako Mohanoe pleaded with the ministers to speed up the process of addressing vendors’ challenges as MCC is always ordering vendors to evacuate their work stations.
