An ugly war is brewing between hawkers under the umbrella of the Thulamela Business Forum and the owners of the Venda Plaza Shopping Complex.
On Monday, hundreds of tenants protested outside the complex gate, joined by shoppers. Singing freedom songs, the protestors handed over a memorandum of their grievances to the owners of the complex.
Speaking on behalf of the forum, Mr Ntsieni Mbulungeni, deputy chairperson of the forum, said that they had engaged the owners of the complex on a number of occasions about the conditions at the complex. "It is now clear that the management of this complex does not want emerging businesspeople here. They are trying all they can to take us out of this complex and replace us with big companies who can afford exorbitant rent."
Among the issues raised are lease problems, which affect them negatively as they are only given a lease of one month, which allows the owners to suppress them as they can increase the rent at will. They also say the big companies are given long-term leases, which guarantees them business at the complex. They also allege that there is no open line of communication between them and the owners.
Mbulungeni further indicated that they were worried about the higher rates that are unreasonable and also terms that are not favourable for local tenants. "We are urging the owners to treat us fairly, so that we can operate our businesses in a profitable way."
He also stated that they were worried that some of the tenants had been operating for more than 10 years but had to close their businesses because of the unfavourable conditions they operated under. "We are giving them 14 days to resolve the issues mentioned and if not, we are going to mobilise our people and make this place not work," he said.
Forum members handed over the memorandum to the representatives of the complex and it was received by Ms Merriam Musetsho, who promised to take the memorandum to the higher officials of the company.