Butterworth Hawkers Association has accused the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&RSETA) of duping them after they were allegedly given bank cards that were said to be each loaded with R3 000, but later turned out to have no money on them when they went to cash them out.
The bank cards were handed over in March this year after months of delays, as they were initially supposed to be handed out in November last year according to Butterworth Hawkers Association secretary, Nonkanyiso Voyi.
“In October last year people claiming to be from W&RSETA came to our stalls and made us fill forms for a business management training programme. We queried the authenticity of the forms with Mnquma Local Municipality’s Local Economic Development Directorate, and we were told that this was above board, and filled in the forms.
“In November, we attended a one-day business training after which we were promised to get certificates and a business injection of R3 000 cash voucher on the day of the training,” Voyi recounted.
Voyi said they suspected something was not right when, on the day of the training, they were told that the promised vouchers will only follow at a later stage whereas they were initially told they were to be handed over with certificates on the day of the training.
The one-day training was carried out by a service provider contracted by the W&RSETA.
Voyi added that there were 90 informal business owners who had filled in the forms for the business training, but some did not attend and were surprised when they were given certificates and vouchers in absentia on the day.
Mnquma Local Municipality has also expressed its anger after it transpired that the bank cards handed to informal business were not loaded with the amount of R3 000 they were promised.
“As a municipality we sympathise with the hawkers and are deeply concerned about the allegations. We further urge the relevant authorities to probe this matter to its finality.
“Hawkers are the lifeblood of the local community, and they must be supported in all their endeavours because of the crucial role they play in growing the local economy. We are confident that this unfortunate situation will be resolved speedily, and in an amicable way that will satisfy all the affected parties,” said municipal spokesman, Loyiso Mpalantshane.
The W&RSETA acknowledged that 90 informal traders in the Mnquma Local Municipality participated in one of its programmes, Informal Traders and Micro Enterprises Development, in 2022 where the informal traders were capacitated with skills to enable them to run profitable and sustainable businesses.
“Firstly, an empty voucher/bank card is issued to the beneficiaries in person. The issuing of an empty card/voucher is done to prevent the beneficiaries from being placed at risk of robbery, as the vouchers are distributed in a public place, like a community hall,” said W&RSETA marketing and communications manager Martha Shingange.
“After distributing vouchers, a second process followed is to activate the vouchers, and the beneficiaries are informed once the cards have been activated so that they can go to the bank to redeem their funds. This stage has not yet been implemented due to the W&RSETA internal delays in completing the process,” said Shingange.
She added that the W&RSETA has put on hold the card activation, due to attending to financial year-end and audit issues.
According to Shingange, the card activation process will commence from June 1 to 30, 2023.
