Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality removed 14 containers in Jobert Street behind Lukhanji Mall in Komani on Monday and Tuesday, citing public safety and illegal dumping concerns due to unlawful business operations.
Only six containers were left by Thursday, with one of them damaged by fire the previous evening.
Joubert Street has been known for drug dealing, tyre burning, and recurring dumping for years, affecting both businesses and residential apartments and homes.
The municipality said the containers were removed as they were located in a zone not designated for informal trade.
Officials issued warnings for operators to vacate before the removals went ahead.
Several owners, most of whom are foreign nationals, disputed the action.
They said they had been paying municipal rates to operate at the site and had documents to prove it.
One trader produced a receipt showing he had paid R1,080 to the municipality for the right to operate at the site.
Despite the warnings, the six operators remained, arguing they were operating legally, held valid paperwork, and that their contractual agreement with the municipality had not lapsed.
EMLM mayor Madoda Papiyana said the removal of the containers was about restoring order and protecting the town’s image.
“This was not a space zoned for informal business, and the municipality has a responsibility to enforce bylaws and protect the environment,” he said.
Papiyana acknowledged that some operators claimed they had paid rates but said the municipality would hold officials accountable for issuing permits in areas not designated for trading.
“We understand that people are trying to make a living, but it must be done within the law and not compromise the formal businesses of the people of this t ow n ,” he said.
He said the municipality had received complaints from business and residents about drug dealing and illegal dumping in the area.
“Some of the containers we removed had drugs. We cannot afford to sit and watch as leaders. There are children here.
“We want this town to be neat and clean as it was before. The hygiene situation in the area of the containers is unbearable.
We cannot allow Komani to deteriorate while we watch.”
Papiyana said foreign nationals needed to understand SA’s laws on business operations.
“For foreign nationals, the law requires an investment of R5m and above to operate a
formal business in South Africa.
“Informal trading zones are prioritised for locals. The letters they speak of to operate here were never signed by the municipal manager.
“Whoever handed those letters to them did so without the authority of the institution.”
He said he was aware of an interdict which requested containers belonging to Orange Plant Hire to be given until Monday to remain in the area.
“After then there will not be a single container here after that. We are cleaning our town,” he said.
The mayor said the municipality would also move to other areas, including Cathcart Road and parts of the CBD, where he said informal hair salons and car washes were operating in spaces not meant for them.
“People are doing hair right next to the bank, which is very bad for the image of the town.”
He said he had spoken to residents who wanted to take matters into their own hands, and urged them to let the municipality act.
“We don’t want to go through what other towns are going through, where people are violently attacking foreign nationals. That’s why you don’t see what is happening in East
London, KZN, and Gauteng province, where foreign nationals are chased without proper process and people take the law into their own hands.”
ABONGILE SOLUNDWANA
