By Nangamso Mabindla
14 April 2005

BUFFALO City is undertaking a survey of the city's informal traders so plans can be put in place to cater for their needs.

Information is being collected on the number of informal traders and the types of business they conduct, says is the City's manager for SMMEs, Vuyani Dayimani.

With this information the municipality can then investigate ways to support the traders, for example by helping them to register as businesses and providing them with formal trading stalls. "Through our research we plan to find out about the informal traders - about their needs," says Dayimani.

The City can then look at ways of supporting the traders on the job creation front, such as running courses teaching emerging entrepreneurs ways of building their businesses. "You often find that there are 10 businesses on the same street selling the same product. We need to educate our people to merge and complement each other instead of competing," he adds.

Dayimani points to Mdantsane as an example. Some 80 percent of businesses, both retail and wholesale, offer the same goods. "You find a shop here and one there. A lot of the spaza shops sell the same products - that kills business."

It was now time to move from running projects to running businesses, Dayimani believes. "People need to be business minded."

One example of this shift is the One Stop Shop in Mdantsane. It aims to educate prospective entrepreneurs on how to start and sustain businesses. "We have people coming to give lectures to the youngsters on ways to start and run proper businesses. We want to hone their entrepreneurial skills."

The City was also investigating the possibility of erecting stalls for the informal traders in East London. However, this was dependent on finding out their numbers and their needs.

The issue of street traders, particularly on the beachfront, was a complex one, Dayimani said. "Many are not from South Africa, so we need to be very careful when we deal with them. However, we still need to ensure they are registered and contribute to the city's economy as well."