Alderman James Vos explains his economic policy goals primarily in mnemonics, but between his three Cs and triple Ps is a good engine of commerce. Cape Town’s acronym-loving Alderman James Vos has a policy that’s systematic and pragmatic to grease the wheels of the city’s economy. With a focus on everything from tourism frameworks to business support, the mnemonic-driven plan is betting thatthese five sparkswill ignite a new era of job creation and competitiveness.
Unfortunately, two particular points in his plan don’t mesh so well with his political party’s policy gearing – if the mayoral committee member wants to boost informal traders and synchronise his manufacturing support programme with the national agenda, he is going to need to win the local election race outright. “Informal traders are vital to South Africa’s economy,” explains Dr David Jeffery, an ANC senior researcher in Parliament. “The number of people engaged in the informal sector – supporting themselves, employing other people – is staggering.
We cannot reduce unemployment unless we support the informal sector. And so we need to think carefully how to do this.” Jeffery has been avocal commentator on the plight of the street vendor, but jives to the Vos talk about amending the informal trader by-laws. “The problem is not that so many informal traders do not follow the rules and regulations,” Jeffery argues.
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“As it currently stands, the problem is that those rules and regulations are almost impossible to follow.” This is where the alderman’s Modernised Public Trading By-law (point two of hisBig Five) faces its sternest test. The City’s plan promises to set out transparent rules and give dignity to work, yet the historical friction lies in the execution. Jeffery warns that municipalities often default to using a stick to compel registration (policing streets and homes) rather than offering the carrot of support.
If Vos’s new by-law focuses on digitising applications without acknowledging that many traders lack internet access, or if the transparent rules remain dense legalese in English only, the policy will be a paper tiger. For the informal sector to truly become an engine of growth rather than a survivalist mechanism, the City must, in Jeffery’s parlance, flip the script: make the benefits of formalising outweigh the hassle of compliance.
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