The Socio-Economic Rights Institute (Seri) says it wants the Johannesburg High Court to restrict mediations between the city of Joburg and informal traders to two weeks.

This comes after the court postponed proceedings on Friday to allow both parties time to negotiate.

However, Adv Deborah Rabuda, representing the informal traders in the matter, said they want the court to compel mediation under Rule 41A of the Uniform Rules.

“Tomorrow [Monday] the court will want to deal with the issue of whether it can force parties to engage in a mediation in terms of Rule 41A of the Uniform Rules. They will also be determining if other parties can join the matter in terms of Rule 16A,” she said.

The mediation between the city and informal traders comes after the city started an operation to enforce by-laws in the CBD, which resulted in almost 1,000 traders being unable to operate.

The city had claimed that the traders did not have permits to trade in the city and were not willing to get the necessary permits to operate in designated spaces. However, Seri argued that the removals were unconstitutional and robbed traders of their right to earn a living.

Seri is now pushing for the court to treat the mediations as a matter of urgency, stating that the livelihoods of the traders are at risk.

“We request that the court limit the mediation process to a two-week timeframe to ensure it proceeds quickly,” Rabuda said.

We request that the court limit the mediation process to a two-week timeframe to ensure it proceeds quickly

—  Adv Deborah Rabuda

“If the court decides to move forward with mediation we will ask for an expedited process due to the urgent circumstances faced by informal traders, who rely on their ability to trade for their livelihood.”

Speaking outside the court on Friday, Joburg mayor Dada Morero said the city had been open to negotiations but talks had failed to yield a resolution.

“I’m encouraged by the fact that the court did allow for both parties to engage and try to negotiate to make it easier for the courts to arrive at a decision. It was a positive indication,” he said.

“However, unfortunately, the two parties could not get to a conclusion, which therefore forced the court to push us for Monday so that then the matter can now be debated in court.”

Morero acknowledged the importance of informal trade but also stressed the need for order.

Sowetan