ah@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n<\/u>20 June 2025 | 12:30 CAT
\n3 min read<\/p>\nInformal work is woven into the fabric of South Africa’s urban landscape. From street vendors setting up stalls before dawn to waste pickers collecting recyclables, these individuals are often misunderstood or dismissed. Associate Professor Marlese von Broembsen, a labour lawyer and researcher at the University of the Western Cape, said it’s time to reframe how we understand informality and justice in the economy.<\/p>\n
In terms of the International Labour Organisation\u2019s definition, it covers all economic activities by workers or economic units that are, in law or practice, not covered or insufficiently covered by formal arrangements. \u201cSo really, what they\u2019re saying is it\u2019s a question of law. Law determines whether you are informal or formal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Von Broembsen added that statistically, there\u2019s a distinction between two groups of workers\u2014those who receive wages and those who are self-employed. \u201cIn the case of people on wages, they could be covered by labour law\u2014for example, domestic workers. But if the employer is not contributing to UIF, not adhering to minimum hours or wages, then the domestic worker would be informal,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
As for self-employed workers, she noted that many are in the informal economy because there are no formal job opportunities available, for example, people like street vendors, in taxi ranks, in townships, in markets, waste pickers, informal taxi drivers, etc.<\/p>\n
She challenged the belief that informal equals illegal or unproductive. “They are certainly not unproductive. I\u2019ve twice had the privilege of staying with a street vendor in Dakar, Senegal and Ahmedabad, India. And I cannot tell you how long people work\u2014the hours spent sourcing ingredients, setting up their stall every day, packing out their goods, and selling. Illegal is this idea that just because you\u2019re not covered by law, somehow you\u2019re illegal. In fact, they are not. We need to think of them as extra-legal. It\u2019s harmful because it\u2019s a way of othering people\u2014of denying them the dignity of work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Von Broembsen emphasised that in sub-Saharan Africa, 43% of informal workers are street vendors, particularly women, and many have been regulated out of public space through colonial and modern laws. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen this perpetuated by urban renewal programs, often backed by the World Bank, the idea of having a \u2018world-class city\u2019 or the \u2018cleanest city in Africa,\u2019 which often involves a mass removal of street vendors,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She pointed to Johannesburg\u2019s 2013 operation, where 15,000 vendors were removed, many with permits and many who had traded for years.<\/p>\n
Regarding proposed solutions, von Broembsen is critical of the ILO and other institutions that promote business training and entrepreneurship support. \u201cThese are not new suggestions; they\u2019ve been around since the 1990s. South Africa had its own small enterprise strategy in 1996, which went exactly this route,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She explained that, while the informal sector is diverse, most vendors will not benefit from credit or training opportunities. \u201cWhat they typically want is secure rights to trade, storage so they don\u2019t have to pick up goods every day, infrastructure, and services like toilets. They know what they need, and they are organised. There\u2019s a need to engage directly with street vendor organisations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
On the issue of identity, von Broembsen stressed that informal workers are not entrepreneurs; they are workers. “Typically, an entrepreneur sees a gap in the market and wants to grow. But if you go and look at vendors, they usually sell the same goods,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
This distinction matters. “If street vendors are workers, they would be entitled to engage with local authorities collectively, have rights to social protection, and a voice at NEDLAC,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Social protection is another area where informal workers are left out. \u201cThey don\u2019t have access to UIF and cannot even pay into anything like UIF. They\u2019re not covered by labour laws, nor registered as enterprises. So they\u2019re stuck,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n
Von Broembsen recalled the story of John Makiwane, a Durban vendor and organiser who lost his goods because of a technicality in the bylaws: \u201cHe had a permit for 15 years. His assistant went to the bathroom, handed the permit to the next table, and at that moment, the police came. They confiscated his goods. Makiwane took the case to court and won, but never got his sandals back. Even if we contravene the speed limit, our car isn\u2019t confiscated. But vendors\u2019 livelihoods are taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a misconception that informal workers don\u2019t pay taxes. \u201cThey pay VAT and permit fees. But more importantly, most don\u2019t earn above the tax threshold. And in this country, workers earning below the threshold don\u2019t pay tax. So why should informal workers?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Labour law reform is crucial. \u201cSection 23 of the Constitution says all workers have labour rights\u2014the right to form and join trade unions and to bargain collectively. But these rights are not realised in law. Instead, they are regulated through bylaws focused on regulating public space, not protecting workers,\u201d von Broembsen argued.<\/p>\n
Globally, informal workers have fought for recognition. \u201cThey fought to be recognised as workers, not as businesses. In 2015, they fought hard for ILO Recommendation 204, which calls for public space to be seen as a workplace and affirms their right to collective bargaining,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n
Von Broembsen highlighted ways ordinary citizens can support them: \u201cThere are examples in Pretoria and Johannesburg where residents have recognised waste pickers, sorted their waste, and engaged local authorities. For street vendors, support them by buying from them. Not because you feel sorry, but because they\u2019ve created their own jobs, which is extraordinary,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
According to von Broembsen, during COVID-19, 18 African countries recognised informal food traders as essential workers. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to contribute to society and the economy, and we should treat them as equals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The next time you walk past a waste picker or street vendor, consider this: Are they really informal, or is it the system that\u2019s failed to formally recognise their worth?<\/p>\n
LISTEN<\/strong> to the full interview with Muallimah Annisa Essack and Associate Professor Marlese von Broembsen<\/strong>, here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za 20 June 2025 | 12:30 CAT 3 min read Informal work is woven into the fabric of South Africa’s urban landscape. From street vendors setting up stalls before dawn to waste pickers collecting recyclables, these individuals are often misunderstood or dismissed. Associate Professor Marlese von Broembsen, a labour lawyer and researcher […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":98528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[132],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-and-analysis"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/The-Insight-7.png?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pD9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 19:28:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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