About 80 small traders were scrambling to find places to ply their wares after the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) dispatched armed guards to remove them ‘without prior notice’ from Khayelitsha Station earlier this week. It is believed that their eviction by Prasa’s protection services, Rapid Rail Police Unit, SAPS and private security contractors, is linked to the full re-opening of Cape Town central line.

Train services on the central line between Cape Town and Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain have been suspended since November 2019 due to theft and vandalism.

In September last year, the central line was partially re-opened from Phillipi Station to Nolungile Station in Site C. Rail services been running at a reduced capacity due to informal settlements on the tracks between Langa and Philippi.

Lindiwe Soko, who sells fruit and veggies to support her four children, said the guards removed her child while she was busy setting up her stand at about 7 p.m. yesterday. “My kid says the guards just told her to leave the station but didn’t say where she could place the stand,” she said.

Soko was in Epping buying fruit and veggies for R2,500 when the guards removed her stand. “I bought fruit and veggies in large quantity because it’s month-end and they sell fast. But now they are rotting because I could not sell them. If they gave us a prior notice, I would have not bought lots of fruit and veggies,” she said.

She needs to make money to pay rent and buy groceries for one of her children who attends University of Johannesburg. “Today the guards told us not to sell at all. Now I’m throwing away and giving away my fruit because it’s rotting. Now I have no money to pay rent,” she said.

Soko was selling her wares in a new business spot outside the station when Elitsha interviewed her on Tuesday. “Business is slow here. I normally have R600 by now, but I only have R200,” she said. She would prefer Prasa allocate spaces to each trader at Khayelitsha train station.

Erick Chipuriro, who sells safety boots and overalls to support his five kids, said he moved to a new business spot outside the station today. “Business is still slow because my customers don’t know I’m here. Perhaps they are looking for me. Normally, I have already sold two pairs and perhaps one overall by now, but I haven’t sold anything,” said Chipuriro. He is anxious that he may be removed again. “We want Prasa to give us marked spaces where our customers can see us,” Chipuriro said.

Thokozile Qalanto, secretary of Khayelitsha Business Forum, said she asked Prasa officials to meet the forum to discuss plans for the hawkers. “We wanted to hear their plans for the hawkers who are already operating at the station, but they refused to meet us. We wanted to avoid a situation where hawkers are forcefully removed. I’m very disappointed that Prasa removed them without consulting us and working with us to find alternative spaces for them. The entity has no respect for the traders even though they contribute to the township economy,” she said.

Prasa’s spokesperson, Zinobulali Mihi said that the informal traders were removed as part of the build up to the full re-opening of the central line to Chris Hani station. Mihi said that they had received complaints that the informal traders were blocking the entrance to the station and that some of them were involved in illegal activities.

“The operation was done after complaints were received from commuters, Prasa staff and contractors currently working at the station, about the inaccessibility of the station because the traders took over the ramp and stairs on both sides of the station. It was also alleged that some of the informal traders sold dagga. 79 informal traders were stopped from opening their stalls by the security teams”, Mihi said.