Document: Exploring the legal context of informal trade in South Africa

Exploring the legal context of informal trade in South Africa: A desktop study commissioned by the Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transform (ESSET)

Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study is threefold. To provide

• important information about relevant legal measures that support informal trade in South Africa;
• succinct analytical insights into the content and impact of policy statements on informal trade;
• information about existing spaces for citizenship participation that informal traders can use to advance demands and to claim rights;

ESSET will use the data to produce educational material for raising awareness amongst informal traders, especially women informal traders, of the South African national and local legal environment in which informal trade, particularly street and market trade, is taking place and of the relevant participatory space in the South African public sphere for informal traders.