The informal sector of South Africa is over represented by women who come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and, as outlined in Part 1, this has been reinforced and maintained through history, legislation and city planning. This CAI paper attempts to shed more light on some of the challenges faced by informal sector workers, particularly women traders in Durban. Following the discussion on the structural and social issues faced by women street traders, this paper considers the importance of collective action with the emergence of the Self-Employed Women’s Union.

Challenges faced by women street traders in Durban

Accessibility of by-laws is quite a challenge for survivalist street traders. The South African Constitution requires that municipal by-laws be accessible to the public.⁽²⁾ However, the “very legalistic and wordy”⁽³⁾ nature of the by-laws makes it difficult to understand them. Yet offenders are “deemed to know the provisions of these by-laws.”⁽⁴⁾ The high cost of social services such as transport, electricity and water render survivalist street traders incapable of accessing these essential services including health services.⁽⁵⁾ Women traders are also exposed to crime, health risks and other dangerous conditions as a result of poor access to resources.⁽⁶⁾ Although policies promise to equip traders with skills and support to secure financial assistance, the majority never receive any training or support. Additionally, men tend to find it easier to open bank accounts.⁽⁷⁾

Due to various structural and social issues, women in South Africa tend to have lower education levels than men, and more women than men have no formal education. As such, fewer women can read and write.⁽⁸⁾ This deficiency limits their ability to understand written instructions, rules and by-laws as well as information that could help them improve their businesses. Another challenge for women street traders includes the lack of child care facilities provided by the state. Limited child care facilities are provided by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and churches.⁽⁹⁾ Women were found to look after their young children themselves while they worked. In some instances, parents have to be separated from their children, and grandparents or other family members often carry the responsibility of looking after the children. The South African State has been found to give negligible support to child care, and the little support there is, is still distributed along racial lines. “There has been limited subsidised provision for white Indian and coloured children, and very little indeed for African children.”⁽¹⁰⁾

Women street traders also face difficulties with accommodation. Historically, African women were barred from living in the cities except as domestic workers. As a result, they did not acquire accommodation in the cities. Many commute between their rural home and the city to do street trading.⁽¹¹⁾ Banning street traders from the streets at night does not make it any easier for the commuters as overnight accommodation is difficult to find and expensive.⁽¹²⁾ Women street traders work long hours because of household responsibilities which they have to discharge after a full day’s work and the commute home. They are unable to get rest and as a result stress levels are high.⁽¹³⁾

The biggest fears for both men and women street traders are theft and criminal violence. However, women are more vulnerable to the serious risk of sexual assault which can expose them to HIV.⁽¹⁴⁾ Also, because of the low incomes and lack of security, women can make risky liaisons and remain dependant on men who support them but who may put their lives at higher risk of contracting HIV. One group at the highest risk are those who trade at truck stops where they may be tempted to engage in risky sexual behaviour for cash with transient truckers.⁽¹⁵⁾ Street traders are also exposed to crimes of abuse of regulations by officials, for example bribery, harassment and extortion in the form of demands for protection payments.⁽¹⁶⁾

Furthermore, female street traders face diverse work environment risks and dangers that put them at high risk of illness due to exposure to the elements and hazardous work environments. Health services are inaccessible either because they do not seek help as often as they need for fear of losing earnings or they cannot afford the cost of transport to the health service provider. Unlike people in formal employment, women street traders do not have the protection of labour legislation and lack access to formal social protection measures such as insurance, disability, maternity, and unemployment benefits.

Some by-laws, like confiscation of goods without warning of street traders who commit an offence,⁽¹⁷⁾ can be devastating to survivalist street traders who cannot easily replace their stock. Even if traders feel unfairly treated, challenging by-laws in court that street traders may feel are unfair, as well as litigation for actions of officials, can be intimidating and unaffordable for survivalist street traders.  Unconstitutional laws or by-laws have to be challenged in the constitutional court to be changed by someone who is affected.⁽¹⁸⁾

As a result of the above mentioned challenges, informal traders have attempted to organise themselves. The Informal Trader’s Management Board (ITMB) formed in Durban in 1995 ⁽¹⁹⁾ helps street traders in their efforts to address their concerns, such as access to credit, crime, and police harassment, assistance with bulk buying schemes, prices, corruption, and clean environment, among others.⁽²⁰⁾ There is clearly a need to develop women’s capacity to participate in such forums for their concerns to be heard. “Women are too shy to speak up in meetings. We need to build them up to speak,”⁽²¹⁾  said the head of the Women’s Task Team of the ITMB, formed to assist women to develop new craft skills so as to diversify their income base. However, although the majority of the members of ITMB are female, key leadership positions are male dominated. Some members of the ITMB executive are reluctant to accept the need to promote gender equity in the leadership of the organisation.⁽²²⁾

The Self-Employed Women’s Union

The lack of sensitivity of the policies and by-laws to women specific issues is evident in the gender insensitive language used in the by-laws. Street traders are generally referred to with male pronouns and no mention is made of female specific concerns and conditions.⁽²³⁾ An organised attempt to represent the interests of self-employed survivalist women in the informal sector was the formation of the Self-Employed Women’s Union (SEWU) whose aim is “the empowerment of self-employed women to organise themselves and demand recognition and support for their work.”⁽²⁴⁾ However, because SEWU cannot be registered with the Department of Labour which caters for people in formal employment, it cannot help survivalist street traders by making use of labour laws.⁽²⁵⁾

SEWU provides training to its members in a variety of skills, including literacy, negotiation and lobbying skills. Women are also helped to understand their constitutional rights in areas including domestic violence, child maintenance laws, and disability. The skills base of women is also expanded to include skills that have been male dominated like building, carpentry, upholstery, welding, plumbing etc.⁽²⁶⁾ Furthermore, SEWU has proactively engaged with local government and has had some successes in its negotiations. For example, through negotiations, the muthi sellers were provided with facilities at Warwick Junction, the primary public transport interchange in Durban.

Additionally, SEWU cooperates with a number of organisations locally that provide training and capacity-building in a variety of areas.⁽²⁷⁾ Internationally, SEWU is linked to various networks concerned with empowerment of women and the informal economy. These include Women in Informal Employment: Globalising & Organising (WIEGO), StreetNet and HomeNet.⁽²⁸⁾ These international organisations could provide the support that SEWU needs to make a difference to survivalist street traders.

Concluding remarks

As long as the economies of many African countries fail to provide employment for all their citizens and large numbers do not qualify for formal employment, street trading will remain an alternative means of survival in cities and towns. Nonetheless, street traders are unlikely to disappear even with improved economic conditions that may absorb many unemployed men and women into formal employment. There will still be the many who depend on street trading to sustain themselves and their households. South Africa and its cities will be judged by the way they provide for those who trade in the streets.

Even though there have been acknowledgements of the contribution of street trade to local economies, there has not been a corresponding, demonstrated seriousness about improving their conditions of trade. Will the town and city planners provide the necessary services for this trade such as decent sheltered places for the street traders to trade from and store their goods, and decent ablution services to maintain the dignity and comfort of the street traders in recognition of their contribution to the economy? Will the city authorities show seriousness and a commitment to implement improved conditions that will also take account of the needs of female street traders? Will the management and law enforcement agencies charged with overseeing street traders treat women street traders with the dignity and respect they deserve? Some cases of harassment are still reported. Do these indignities suffered by street traders occur because the majority of them are poor black women? Although I have not answered all these questions I have illustrated, through the course of this paper, that the policies and by-laws for street trading have not, so far, worked very well for survivalist women street traders because the city council has not paid attention to their needs.

The only hope there may be for the South African female survivalist street traders is to encourage them to join SEWU, and for SEWU to work hard to publicise the conditions the women street traders work under. SEWU would then lobby the international networks they are associated with to draw the attention of international bodies concerned with the provision of better working conditions for poor women, and survivalist street traders in particular, to the plight of local women street traders. This may prompt the local governments into action to avoid embarrassment, nationally and internationally, for failing to fulfil their constitutional obligations to the survivalist street traders. But for this to happen, strong lobbies will be required at the international level.

Only when improvements in the management of street trading are seen can South Africa, and its cities, be said to be showing progress in providing for the most vulnerable in society and beginning to treat with dignity and respect even the lowliest of their citizens as the Constitution demands.

Click here to read Part 1

Written by Nombulelo Siqwana-Ndulo ⁽¹⁾

NOTES:

(1) Contact Nombulelo Siqwana-Ndulo through Consultancy Africa Intelligence's Gender Issues Unit ( gender.issues@consultancyafrica.com). This CAI discussion paper was developed with the assistance of Claudia Forster- Towne and was edited by Kate Morgan.
(2) Skinner, C., ‘Local government in transition – a gendered analysis of trends in urban policy and practice
regarding street trading in five South African cities’, CSDS Report,, May 1999, http://sds.ukzn.ac.za.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Steyn, I., ‘Exploring the legal context of informal trade in South Africa’, A study commissioned by Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transform, April 2011, http://www.esset.org.za.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Ibid.
(8) Lund, F., ‘Women street traders in urban South Africa: A synthesis of selected research findings’, CSDS Research Report, 15 September 1998, http://sds.ukzn.ac.za.
(9) Ibid.
(10) Ibid.
(11) Ibid.
(12) Lund, F., Skinner, C. and Nicholson, J., 2000, Street trading. School of Development Studies: Durban.
(13) Lund, F., ‘Women street traders in urban South Africa: A synthesis of selected research findings’, CSDS Research Report, 15 September 2008, http://sds.ukzn.ac.za.
(14) Ibid.
(15) Lee, S., 2004. ‘The vulnerability of women street traders to HIV/AIDS: Local government opportunities for action’, Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division, Policy Brief.
(16) Ibid.
(17) Skinner, C., ‘Local government in transition – a gendered analysis of trends in urban policy practice regarding street trading in five South African cities’, CSDS Research Report, 1999, http://sds.ukzn.ac.za.
(18) Lund, F., Skinner, C. and Nicholson, J., 2000, Street trading. School of Development Studies: Durban.
(19) Motala, S., ‘Organizing the informal economy: A case study of street trading in South Africa’, International Labour Organisation, 20 February 2003, http://www.ilo.org.
(20) Ibid.
(21) Ibid.
(22) Ibid.
(23) Skinner, C., ‘Local government in transition – a gendered analysis of trends in urban policy practice regarding street trading in five South African cities’, CSDS Research Report, 1999, http://sds.ukzn.ac.za.
(24) Motala, S., ‘Organizing the Informal Economy: A case Study of Street Trading in South Africa’, International Labour Organisation, 20 February 2003, http://www.ilo.org.
(25) Ibid.
(26) Ibid.
(27) Ibid.
(28) Ibid.