The 36th edition of the National Arts Festival sees a rift developing between between stall owners and the Festival’s sponsors.
The 36th edition of the National Arts Festival sees a rift developing between between stall owners and the Festival’s sponsors.
This follows a new law which restricts the trading hours of stalls at this year’s Festival.
Vendors are now forced to close business at 5pm at the end of each day and are also forbidden from camping
at their stalls.
Poles around High Street and the Cathedral have been put up with “No camping” signs attached. The Traffic Department has been roped in to patrol the area, with the department’s Assistant Manager Coenraad Hanekom saying that they have “to ensure that nobody camps at these places illegally”.
The signs are meant to prevent vendors from camping at their stalls, as they have done for the most part of the Arts Festival’s history. Many of the stall owners feel hard done by and some have resorted to sleeping in their cars while others have continued to camp despite the signs.
The common complaint among many of the vendors is that they were only informed of the new law after they had already paid the rental for their stalls.
The law also states that vendors have to pack up their stalls at 5pm, whereas in the past the vendors were allowed to sell their goods for as long as they wanted.
Many of the vendors such as Teejay Thabede have since stated that this is not good for business. Thabede, who has been selling bags and clothes at the Festival for a decade, said he was not pleased with the way the matter has been dealt with this year.
“The new law means that I have to set up my stall every morning and pack it up in the evenings. How can they tell me not to camp at my stall when I have been doing so for many years now?”
Meanwhile, miscommunication between the National Arts Council and Makana Municipality has caused confusion between some visiting and permanent stall owners along High Street.
Johannes Tladi and Nkululeko Mfexani are both local stall owners who have been renting out a piece of land on High Street from the municipality.
On Monday morning they were told by an officer from Hi-tec the security company that has recently been given the security tender for the Festival to remove their stalls for people who have rented it out for the duration of the Festival.
Tladi and Mfexani have since been told by members of the municipality not to move their stalls.
