- Elderly residents in Hanover Park are facing threats of fines of up to R800 000, or 20 years in jail, for selling sweets and baked goods from their homes.
- The Newfields Village Anti-Eviction Community Representative Forum accused the City of targeting poor and working-class residents.
- Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews said the City acted on complaints, under City of Cape Town by-laws, and that zoning laws apply equally to all residents.
Pensioners relying on income from selling sweets and baked goods from their council homes to stay afloat are being threatened with hefty fines and possible jail time, sparking outrage from community activists who accuse the City of Cape Town of targeting the poor instead of tackling more serious issues facing Hanover Park.
The Newfields Village Anti-Eviction Community Representative Forum slammed the City after residents allegedly received notices warning them that operating informal businesses on their properties could result in fines of up to R800 000, or imprisonment of up to 20 years under municipal by-laws.
The forum said many residents in working-class communities survived through small-scale trading, with pensioners and unemployed families relying on front-yard tuck shops, selling baked goods, and informal businesses to put food on the table.
“For millions of Cape Town residents, entrepreneurship or small-time trading is the only possible way they can survive,” its spokesperson, Gary Hartzenberg, said.
Community leaders argued that many elderly residents were physically unable to operate shops themselves and instead depended on rental income from informal traders running small businesses from their properties.
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The forum defended Somali and Ethiopian shopkeepers operating in the area, saying they provided an important service to the community, and warned against rising xenophobic tensions.
According to Hartzenberg, there was no conflict between foreign traders and the community.
“These shops benefit the entire community,” he said.
The forum accused the City of focusing its resources on policing struggling residents instead of addressing deeper issues facing communities on the Cape Flats, including gangsterism, drugs, poverty, and a lack of recreational facilities.
Hartzenberg said:
It boggles the mind that the City sends inspectors to Hanover Park to threaten pensioners with prison sentences, while communities still lack playgrounds, trees, recreation areas, and protection from gang violence.
He warned that they would resist any attempts to enforce the by-law, arguing that residents, not the City, should decide whether businesses could operate from their homes.
Hartzenberg said the elderly residents were using council houses.
“Is this a crime? Our people are trying to make a living, and they are targeting them. How can a pensioner afford to pay R800 000?”
According to him, locals were upset.
“People are angry, they are up in arms because of this. The City has served letters to five homes so far, and people are worried about this because this is their only income. It’s like taking bread out of people’s mouths,” Hartzenberg said.
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The City started issuing letters to residents at the beginning of the year.
The letter, seen by News24, said: “You are hereby instructed to cease the unlawful conduct and comply with the provisions of the by-law/zoning of the property within 30 days by ceasing to operate the house shop.”
The letter stated that, under the by-law, a person was liable to a fine of up to R800 000, or to imprisonment not exceeding 20 years, or to both a fine and such imprisonment.
A copy of the letter that the City of Cape Town sent to some residents.
Among those who received a letter from the City was 50-year-old Achmat Majiet, who has been operating a spaza shop out of his council home for four years.
Majiet told News24 that he was worried since receiving the letter.
“Where do I get R800 000? This is the only income my wife and I have. It’s very worrying because what am I going to do to sustain my family?”
He said for the four years they have operated, they have never received a letter like this.
“We had some obstacles in the past, but never like this. I do believe we are being targeted,” Majiet said.
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Mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews, stated that the City had received complaints about homeowners who were operating small businesses from their homes.
“The City investigated these complaints and then served notices on owners who were found to be contravening the zoning of their properties,” he said.
Zoning determines what a property may be used for, such as for residential or business purposes.
Andrews said all properties were assigned zoning categories that regulated what types of development and activities were permitted on them.
He said:
Zoning is necessary to ensure that land is used in a way that is safe, organised, and compatible with the surrounding area.
“The same laws and by-laws apply equally to all residents, regardless of their circumstances or the neighbourhood,” he added.
According to Andrews, there was a solution to this challenge.
“Residents who want to operate a house shop from their homes can submit a land use application to the City for assessment in terms of the Municipal Planning By-law. Should the City approve this application, the applicant must comply with the relevant conditions applicable to that approval,” he said.
Hartzenberg added in response to Andrews: “It’s easy for them to say. How do you justify extorting money from the poorest of the poor?”
