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The City of Johannesburg cannot claim to be serious about economic inclusion while spraying informal traders with water cannons in the name of bylaw enforcement.

Yesterday, the MMC for Public Safety, Mgcini Tshwaku, posted a video showing a municipal water cannon truck dispersing street vendors in Johannesburg’s inner city. Later, Executive Mayor Dada Morero reposted the footage, stating that “any illegal traders operating outside designated trade zones will be taken out.”

This approach is deeply concerning. Informal traders are not criminals; they are residents trying to survive in one of the toughest economic environments our city has faced in decades. Many are supporting families, paying school fees, and keeping local neighbourhood economies alive. Treating poverty with force sends the wrong message about the kind of city Johannesburg aspires to be.

Bylaws must be enforced fairly and consistently. But enforcement cannot become humiliation. If traders are operating outside designated zones, the first question the City should ask is whether sufficient, accessible, safe, and economically viable trading spaces actually exist. Too often, designated areas are poorly located, lack basic services, or do not attract foot traffic. Enforcement without viable alternatives simply pushes people deeper into desperation.

Johannesburg’s unemployment rate remains devastatingly high. The informal economy absorbs thousands who have nowhere else to go. A developmental city supports micro-enterprise, it does not douse it.

If the City has resources for water cannons, it must also have resources for trader engagement, permit system reform, market upgrades and transparent allocation of trading bays. The solution lies in structured dialogue, spatial planning reform, and inclusive economic policy and not in an Apartheid-style PR spectacle.

GOOD calls on the Mayor and MMC to urgently engage trader organisations, publish clear guidelines on designated trading zones, and ensure that enforcement operations respect dignity and proportionality. 

Johannesburg must decide whether it wants to be a city that pushes the poor out of sight, or one that builds pathways into opportunity.

Issued by GOOD National Chairperson & City of Johannesburg Councillor Matthew Cook