Wednesday 15 August 2007

Informal Traders

An informal trader that sells pirate DVDs runs from police on William Nicol ave in Johannesburg.
Today, I accompanied the Metro police enforcing by-laws, which consisted mostly of arresting traders at major intersections. The police were simply doing their job by rounding up the traders (mostly foreigners) , as they believe they contribute to crime in the areas, but this does'nt seem like the way to tackle this, I spoke to one of the traders and they believe they help curb crime by being in the area constantly. They insist they are just trying to earn a living, which is fair enough, I think.
It seems like a double edged sword, on the one side the law must be upheld, on the other, people need to make a living. Surely there must be another option, as the trader assured me that he would be back as soon as he pays his fine.

4 comments:

Natasha Tarushka Marrian said...

Jared,

Of course they'll be back... However, I do think its crazy, the cops clamp down on guys making an honest living by selling their wares in broad daylight... and they completely ignore the criminal network currently thriving clandestinely (is that even a word. lol) in this country.

Tarushka

Anonymous said...

An honest living? I hardly think so. Let's not forget that they are selling pirated DVD's which is still illegal, furthermore, these are illegal immigrants who have no business being in SA in the first place, so i say "Big up" to the SAPS.

Daniel said...

Yes, I agree. I think the SAPS are taking a step in the right direction by implementing this clampdown on illegal trading at traffic intersections.

BTW, Fantastic photograph!

MotoCiclante said...

Wonderfull shoot!