A large crowd of people watched in disbelief as the caravan of one of the hawkers in Kruger Street, next to the taxi rank in Louis Trichardt, was confiscated by officials from the Makhado Municipality and towed to the municipal car pound last Sunday (4 September).
Ms Livhuwani Nemaungani, widely known as Livhuki, is a popular food hawker and well-known businesswoman in town, who regards herself as a law-abiding citizen. She has a valid licence to operate from her caravan, pays parking rent like the rest of the hawkers who trade from the parking lot, and works hard every day to serve her customers with delicious meals.
However, she was dumb struck when, on Wednesday 31 August, she was unexpectedly served with a court order from the municipality, informing her that she had 72 hours to vacate the site from where she was "illegally" trading in front of Kiswa Property Investment (Pty) Ltd.
Nemaungani went to the Thohoyandou High Court the very next day to challenge the court order and stop the municipality from removing her from her place of trading, and the application was handed to the municipality by the Sheriff on Friday (2 September). On Sunday, however, municipal officials still showed up and towed her caravan away, regardless of her application to oppose the court order.
She was furious and, as this was not her first run-in with the municipality, she accused them of constant harassment and ill treatment. She claims that municipal officials only target certain individuals, while others get to continue their business on the same premises without any interference. She also accused the municipality of applying double standards.
"I have done nothing wrong here. I'm making a decent and honest living. I'm not stealing from anybody, but this municipality wants to drive me into crime. What am I supposed to do? This is my bread and butter," said Nemaungani.
She claims to have lost thousands of rands during the raid. "Look, my caravan was damaged during the towing, and I have lost business since this whole ordeal. Is the municipality going to compensate me for my loss?"
She said she was worried that the same municipality that was driving her out of business was not able to provide them with jobs. "If they could just give me a job, they would never see me in these parking lots. I will be waking up and heading for work like others and not bother anybody," she said.
The Makhado Municipality's spokesperson, Mr Louis Bobodi, responded to our media enquiry. "The municipality obtained a court order against Livhuki General Trading, in favour of Kiswa Properties. Although she has a permit to trade, it must be clear that she does not have a permit to operate in front of Kiswa Properties. The municipality has yet not reached an agreement with her legal representative."
The application of Ms Nemaungani served in the High Court on Tuesday (13th) but was postponed to a date yet to be determined by the parties and the court.