progress in Pretoria

The New Age reports that the Metro Pretoria government has signed a groundbreaking deal with four networks representing street hawkers to spend 10 million rand (or about $1.2 million) to give impromptu sidewalk vendors official stalls.

From the article: Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa acknowledged informal trade was a contributor to the local economy, providing opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs and creating jobs.He pointed out hawkers plying their trade on the metro’s streets were responsible for R600m of the Tshwane fresh produce market’s annual R2bn turnover.

In other words, street hawkers alone account for 1/3 of the turnover at the city's produce wholesale market. A good economic reason to cooperate with and not exterminate these vibrant small-scale entrepreneurs.

The deal comes in response to a series of wildcat strikes, in which hawkers irate at militaristic city efforts to demolish their stalls and confiscate their goods blocked streets around the capital, News24 reported. Which shows that, if System D workers shed their fears and organize public collective actions, they can achieve great things.