Transcript Slide 1

www.salga.org.za
KZN 2012 REGIONAL AND LOCAL ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT
Raising the profile of informal trade
management as a key municipal service delivery
function
Douglas Cohen (SALGA) & Pat Horn (StreetNet)
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www.salga.org.za
Presentation Content
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Context of the Informal Economy in SA
Share the Rationale behind a Municipal Policy
Overview of the SALGA Informal Economy Guidelines
Formalisation? Organisation? What traders want?
Decent Work (ILO)
Partnerships and Support
www.salga.org.za
Problem Statement
(extract from SALGA
National Conference /
LED Commission Report)
• In terms of local economic development (LED),
not only is it going to become much more visible
from a municipal leadership this year and next, as
government pushes much harder to address
joblessness, poverty and inequality, there needs
to be a substantial re-think of the current LED
approaches aligned to the NGP including taking a
much more inclusive and proactive stance in
support of the formal & informal economies
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Context of the Informal
Economy in SA
• 2.2. million people (more than 1 in every 6 people
who have a job)
• In the SA context, it is a vital social safety net
• The informal sector is a continuum from survival
to SMME and a similarly flexible approach is
required
• Contrary to many perceptions, informal-formal
economy linkages are considerable, and support
local economies
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Context of the Informal
Economy in SA
The informal trading sector produces about 12% of Cape Town's
economy and employs 18% of its economically active residents
Source http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/ehd/Pages/informaltrading.aspx
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Context of the Informal
Economy in SA
• Street vending is a dominant work activity in South
Africa’s informal economy. In 2007 there were over
500,000 street vendors in informal employment, of whom
about 360,000 were women.
– As a share of jobs in non-agricultural informal employment, street
vending comprises 15 per cent.
– Compared to home-based workers and street vendors, waste
collectors are a much smaller sub-group of workers.
– Estimates using the Population Census 2001 and the LFS 2007
suggest between 45,000 and 85,000 waste collectors in South
Africa.
Source: South Africa’s Informal Economy: A Statistical Profile6 Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and
Organizing Urban Policies Research Report, Gabrielle Will No. 7 April 2009
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Context of the Informal
Economy in SA
• The informal economy is growing and here to stay
• As thus collectively we need to:
– Embrace and acknowledge the informal sector in the
development of local economies
– Redefine of what it means ‘to be employed” and
therefore widen the current debate on job creation in
SA.
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Asiye eTafuleni
African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town
City of Cape Town
City of eThekwini
City of Ekhuruleni
City of Joburg
City of Tshwane
COSATU
Dora Tamana Cooperatives Centre (DTCC)
Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional
Affairs
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The purpose of the guidelines is
NOT to:
Department of Economic Development
Department of Trade and Investment – Informal Business
GIZ
International Labour Organisation
Khanya-AICDD
LED Network
Mbombela Municipality
Metro Trading Company
Norweto/Diepsloot Informal Traders Forum
Public Affairs Research Institute (Pari)
SA Cities Network
SALGA provincial offices
SANTRA
– Define a set of prescriptive rules
to be imposed on municipalities.
– Position SALGA as the “referee”
or as an ongoing hand-holder.
StreetNet
Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing
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Rationale for a Municipal
Policy
• The informal economy is important to both the economy
and poverty alleviation.
• There has not been a uniform policy to support those
working in the informal economy.
• Current regulation is inconsistent.
– The focus current laws is towards revenue collection, policing and
restrictive administration. They do not create support mechanisms
or an enabling environment for the informal economy.
– By-laws vary from municipality to municipality, some still reflecting
outdated approaches
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Rationale for a Municipal
Policy
• It is imperative for local government to move towards:
– Having LED friendly Informal Trade Policies and By-laws in Place
– Combining law enforcement, infrastructural and spatial policies
with a business approach as a means of creating an enabling
environment for informal traders
– Planning with & NOT for Informal Traders
• Each municipality should define its own set of
stakeholders depending on the type of services being
addressed.
www.salga.org.za
Informal Sector Stakeholders
Partnerships,
Management &
Operations
Informal Trade By-laws`
Informal Trade Policy
Municipality
Informal Trade
Policy Guidelines
www.salga.org.za
Overview of the SALGA
Informal Economy
Guidelines
- Policy
• Policy Operational Parameters
i.
Development of Policy Statement
ii.
Defining Core Principles which are pillars that underpin policy
itself;
iii.
An explanation of how policy itself should be operationalised;
iv.
Defining informal/street trading support strategies
v.
Outlining of operational parameters which indicate processes
and procedures being followed in including, informing and
addressing the informal/street trading, home care, waste mgmt
sectors.
• Developing / adopting By-laws
• Operation and ongoing review.
www.salga.org.za
Overview of the SALGA
Informal Economy
Guidelines
- Policy Statement
• A Policy Statement could include the following:
1) The ….. Municipality acknowledges the relevance
and role of the informal/street traders in contributing
to the overall economic development of the
municipality. In this context, therefore, the
municipality endeavors to continuously create an
enabling environment where the informal/street
trader is able to operate optimally.
2) Promoting viable alternatives which enhance the
growth of informal/street trading, while assisting
traders graduating
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Overview of the SALGA
Informal Economy
Guidelines
- Policy Statement
3) Advocating for and facilitating an integrated approach
to managing informal/street trading;
4) Establishing managing and maintaining sustained
linkages between and among formal businesses;
5) Developing and instituting appropriate systems and
procedures of allocating, utilizing and controlling
resources for the benefit of informal/street traders;
and,
6) Introducing and adopting efficient monitoring and
evaluation tools and procedures
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Overview of the SALGA
Informal Economy
Guidelines
- Policy Principles
• Core Principles:
– Economic, Social, Spatial, Legal, Health & Safety
• Cross-cutting Themes:
– Stakeholder management: identification, engagement,
managing them for sustenance
– Communications: strategy, mechanisms and feedback
– Resource Planning: effective planning, assessing and
effecting development of human and financial
resources
www.salga.org.za
Overview of the SALGA
Informal Economy
Guidelines
- Operationalisation
• Operationalisation of policy objectives is achieved
through effective stakeholder management, appropriate
communication strategies and proper planning and
execution of human and financial resources
• This is fully exemplified in the following objectives
Integrated
Spatial
Planning
Informal trader
registration
Space
allocation
Rentals Policy
Business/trader
development
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Overview of the SALGA
Informal Economy Guidelines
- Role and Responsibilities
• 1. Defining the Role of the municipality
– Establishment of institutional structures to manage
informality
– Engaging informal traders to become partners
– Creating forums for communication and managing
stakeholders
– Education and awareness on informal trading policy and
operational issues
– Creating an enabling environment for both sectors,
thereby enhancing joint and inclusive management of
formal and informal traders
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Comments, discussion and input welcome
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Informal trade management as a key
municipal service delivery function
Resolution concerning decent work and
the informal economy
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Adopted at the General Conference of the International
Labour Organisation meeting in its 90th session, June
2002:
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www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/pdf/pr-25res.pdf
–
www.ilo.org/public/french/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/pdf/pr-25res.pdf
–
www.ilo.org/public/spanish/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/pdf/pr-25res.pdf
International framework representing consensus
between governments, employers’ organisations and
(formal and informal) workers’ organisations
FORMALISATION .........
What do informal traders want ??
• Recognition in law of workers in the informal economy;
• Integration of indirect taxes and other revenues already
paid by informal workers into official tax systems (in
accordance with the principle of progressive taxation);
• Extension of social security to all;
• Statutory negotiating forums, including at local
government level;
• Participatory budgeting, at both national and local
government level;
• Formalisation into genuine worker-controlled
cooperatives;
• Transformation of the informal economy into social
solidarity economy.
Organisation of informal traders
• While there have been many obstacles on the way to unity,
consensus among informal traders in South Africa about the need
for an independent representative organization (not created by
government authorities or the private sector) has become stronger
and stronger.
• South African informal traders' organizations have had the
opportunity to meet national informal traders' organizations in other
African countries and cross-border traders' organisations.
• They have seen that most policy development in these countries has
taken place in response to strong organization of informal traders.
• In March 2011 in Windhoek, as a result of cooperation between
StreetNet and SATUCC, the SADC meeting of Ministers of Labour
for the first time adopted a resolution on developing policies to
combat poverty among informal traders and all workers in the
informal economy by promoting decent work in the entire SADC
region.
Women in the informal economy organise and speak
with one voice
- May Day 2010, Maputo
StreetNet and SALGA:
working together to do more
• StreetNet engaged in SALGA provincial Summits on
informal economy in Free State and Eastern Cape
around developing participatory and inclusive informal
economy regulation and policies
• StreetNet and COSATU organised informal traders to
make input into SALGA’s Municipal Informal Economy
Guidelines during SALGA LED consultation process
• Informal traders’ organisations in 9 provinces, working
towards establishment of South African national informal
traders’ alliance, are in support of the SALGA guidelines
– a good start for inclusive LED planning
working together to do more
• Progress has been made since 2003 in building provincial
alliances of street vendors and informal traders – now there
are unified core organisations in 7 of the 9 provinces.
• In KwaZulu-Natal, Ubumbano Traders Alliance was formed in
2011, uniting 19 organisations and street traders’ committees
in Durban who now speak with one voice.
• StreetNet and Ubumbano Traders’ Alliance members visited
Newcastle Municipality at invitation of LED department – met
representatives of different departments and found impressive
level of inter-departmental cooperation and commitment to
inclusive policies and participatory processes.
• Ubumbano Traders’ Alliance now working with informal
traders’ organisations in Newcastle and Ladysmith.
www.salga.org.za
Discussion? Questions? etc
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