Joburg's informal traders to score at World Cup

Johannesburg’s informal traders stand to score big during the 2010 Fifa World Cup if they adhere to the international soccer body’s by-laws, the city’s 2010 office said on Wednesday.

“Though trading will not be permitted in exclusion zones around the stadiums on match days, new opportunities are being created for traders to benefit from being situated in high-fan traffic areas,” spokesperson Sibongile Mazibuko said in a statement.

She advised informal traders to join programmes designed by the Department of Economic Development (DED) to help coach them through the tournament.

Most traders working at events were already listed on the department’s database and would be permitted to sell their wares during the World Cup.

In the past year, food vendors had attended a monthly training programme on food safety, health requirements, food presentation and the image of their stalls.

“Traders can further cash-in on new opportunities by selling food to secure clients such as the city’s 2010 volunteer workforce, the staff working at the event and VIP guests of the city,” said Mazibuko.

Host cities are obliged to create commercial restriction zones around stadiums and areas of importance during the tournament.

This is to protect Fifa’s commercial affiliates and sponsors from ambush marketing by competing companies which had contributed nothing to the event, said Mazibuko.

She said the city sought to ensure that trading at controlled-access sites and exclusion zones was controlled and was disrupted as little as possible.

“Traders are, however, expected to comply with Fifa by-laws by avoiding selling illegal counterfeit goods, engaging in ambush marketing or trading along protocol main routes outside demarcated trading areas.”

The Johannesburg metropolitan municipality is also hosting several parallel events at which accredited traders will be able to sell their wares.

These include fan fests at Innes Free Park, in Sandton, and at Elkah Stadium, in Soweto, which accommodates 30 000 or more fans.—Sapa