The Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) has called on the City of Windhoek and other local authorities to stop evicting street vendors and instead create designated spaces where they can trade legally and earn a living.
SPYL secretary Ephraim Nekongo says the confiscation, removal and destruction of vendors’ goods should not become the standard way of enforcing municipal regulations.
“Enforcement should never unnecessarily destroy livelihoods or deepen poverty,” Nekongo said in a statement issued on Friday.
He said street vending remains a vital source of income for thousands of Namibian families, particularly young people, women and low-income households facing unemployment and rising living costs.
“Street vendors and informal traders must therefore not be viewed as a nuisance to urban development, but as economic actors and entrepreneurs,” Nekongo said.
The SPYL urged local authorities to move away from an enforcement-centred approach towards the integration, formalisation and modernisation of informal trading.
It said municipalities should establish properly serviced trading areas with water, sanitation, electricity, waste management, storage and security, while ensuring vendors are located where they can access customers.
The youth league further called for affordable and simplified registration and permit systems and permanent consultative forums between authorities and vendors.
Nekongo said authorities should prioritise dialogue and give traders reasonable opportunities to comply before punitive action.
“Confiscation and destruction of goods should never become the default method of regulating informal economic activity,” he said.
The SPYL said the objective should be to organise and modernise informal trading while creating pathways for vendors, particularly young Namibians, to grow sustainable businesses.
