The Street Vendor Empowerment Project is an initiative that originated through a local group of churches in the valley, known as the Deep South Church of Christ.
A burgeoning number of informal street traders are popping up in the far south and they trade mostly under harsh weather conditions with no protection from the elements.
Concerned members from the Deep South Church of Christ came up with the idea of providing selected street vendors with a gazebo to protect them from the weather, a portable table and a clothing display rack.
CoordinatorSeanDelbrooke-Jones said this gives the vendor an instantly more professional look and an identity. Usually, he said, clothes and other goods were tossed on the ground in a heap on top of cardboard.
Mr Delbrooke-Jones said the group bought used clothing from the UK and offered it at cost to each vendor.
The project will initially set up four to five vendor sites locally, within the next eight weeks. One such site was launched in Masiphumelele last week.
“These sites will act as a test and be monitored before further vendor sites are added,” said Mr Delbrooke-Jones.
Most of the funding for the project comes from con-
tributions made by the Deep South House Church mem-
bers.
To find out more about the project, call Mr Delbrooke-
Jones at 082 856 4254 or
Peter Leibbrandt at 062 416 0743
