STREET FOOD SALE ILLEGAL

Mogoditshane /Thamaga District Council Chairman, Molatedi Tona Selala has told Gabane street vendors that selling food on the streets is illegal under Botswana law.Selala made the clarification on Tuesday this week during a meeting with small business owners following a recent crackdown on street vendors in Gabane by the Council’s by-law department.During the meeting, the vendors pleaded with the council to revisit and relax regulations governing food businesses, arguing that the current requirements are too costly for small-scale operators tomeet.It is common to see these operators braaiing meat and frying chips, russians and chicken beside the road on a daily basis, so much that some have come to believe there was nothing wrong with the practice.However, Selala said the law does not permit people to prepare and sell food on the streets, stressing that the regulations were in place to protect public health.He added that even makeshift structures are not permitted for food businesses.“You need to understand that it is not allowed, your small business licences do not have anywhere that says food can be sold on the streets. It does not exist; it is not about Mogoditshane/Thamaga District only; it is a Botswana law,” he said.Selala explained that it is permitted for people to prepare food at home and sell it, but not to cook it on the streets.His comments come after a recent enforcement operation in Gaborone in which council by-law officers confiscated equipment belonging to street vendors operating without valid trading licences.Among the items confiscated were cooking pots, tables, plates, braai stands and a snooker table. The affected vendors were fined P2 000 each for contravening council by-laws.The crackdown sparked an uproar among vendors and some community members, with complaints that the enforcement was threatening livelihoods at a time when many Batswana were already struggling economically.During Tuesday’s meeting, vendors maintained that catering requirements were difficult and expensive to meet, and called on the government to review the regulations to make it easier for smallbusinesses to operate legally.As for the confiscated goods, Selala said the council had heard the vendors’ concerns and had decided to return their property, allowing them to regularise their businesses and comply with the regulations.He said the government would further discuss ways of enabling Batswana to make a living without compromising public health or infringing on the rights of others.Councillor for Gabane West, Elias Raletobana, urged all to familiarise themselves with the law and comply with its requirements.He also encouraged them to regularise their businesses and operate lawfully, warning that failure to do so could leave them as victims of their own actions.

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STREET FOOD SALE ILLEGAL