Street Traders Harassed by Police in Jo'burg

In a street-traders' survey released on Wednesday, most of the traders interviewed -- 94% -- said they had been harassed by police. At least 82% of street traders said they had had their goods confiscated by the police and had difficulty in recovering them.

Street trader Martha Sigabi said the police did not issue receipts when confiscating their goods and often used excessive force.

"They use spray guns, which affect our health. Sexual harassment is another problem as the police take women traders into their cars and patapata [touch] them," she said.

She accused the police of using abusive and humiliating language towards the traders.

Another street trader, Rose Nkosi, said most traders chose to sell their wares on the street instead of committing crimes. She appealed to the government to allocate land to the traders so that they could trade in a safe environment.

The survey revealed that 84% of the street traders did not have licences.