Where peasants are kings
Boitshepo Majube | Friday December 13, 2013 17:14
A majority of those that trade at the bus rank are those that were discarded to a life of abject poverty, but refuse to be poor.
Their meetings are informal, but their pricing is the same. No matter what they do, they hold on to their guns.
They make huge profits from whatever they sell, because they have made the bus rank their strategic point of negotiation.
Most of the time they target customers in buses, ready to leave with no choice of going back to the shops. This has made them an accessible option as they bring convenience to their customers.
At the bus rank, any amount that can buy something sold is enough to bring back returns. From as little as P5, a trader can grow that money fivefold in a day. But weekends can sustain the stability of a business for a trader.
Traders can buy at the supermarkets and target 25 percent of profit from every single item purchased. Sometimes they make 100 percent profit on every item sold.
Within a thriving business threat can be lurking nearby. By-law enforcement officers and the police in plain clothes are ready to pounce. These officers have become a threat to these businesses, but the traders have devised a strategy to deal with them.
'We alert each other every time we know they will carry out a raid. Some are our friends. They also inform us to beware,' said Tshephang Kgoko a mother who sells whatever that could make money without a permit.
She said with water one cannot go wrong.
'We buy it for P3 or less and sell it for P6. On a scotching day a trader can easily sell 50 bottles of water,' she said.
Their chicken and chips better known, as 'ditopo', is the famous fast-food dish that makes a lot of money.
'This name was given to our chicken and chips by those that wanted to show our food is in an unhealthy space, but fortunately the name has worked well for us,' Kgoko said.
He explained that contrary to what people are saying, their food is clean and healthy and it is likely that the food is better than that from established eateries.
With high demand for ready-made food, it has opened an opportunity for those selling them raw food to have an easy market. Green vegetable, chicken - either full or as pieces - and potatoes, are in high demand, which has led to mini-trucks targeting both traders and passersby.
Other traders also throng the bus rank when the season is upon them. Most of the seasonal traders are either those who sell products from their farms or those that they order in huge amounts from neighbouring countries.
Amongst the seasonal products sold at the bus rank, is the Mophane worm. The worm has become a source of financial income to some who use their funds to educate their children.
Not all of these traders conduct clean business. Some are involved in illegal money-changing business. At their disposal are hundreds and thousands of different local and foreign currencies. In this business the traders are very discreet.
'People like us more than the bureau de change or banks because we are cheap,' one of them said.
Most of these illegal money traders are of foreign descend, who have knowledge on how capital markets work, and how to profit from the money trade.
Not only are moneychangers engaged in illegal trade, but they are also cigarette dealers. On arrival one will find the only packet of cigarettes on the counter, but with request, cartons of cigarettes can be made available either from a nearby bag or a message sent to someone to bring them.
'We do this secretly because we can be arrested for selling cigarettes,' Martha said, explaining that should the authorities see a carton of cigarettes they simply request that we produce a clearance certificate.
Other illegal items traders sell are beauty creams. The creams, according to one dealer, have become the women's choice, as they cannot stop buying them.
'Women really love our stuff. Some of the creams are meant to give women a soft moist skin while some use lightening skin creams,' she said.
The origins of these creams still remain a mystery, even for the traders that deal in them. Some claim the creams are from neighbouring countries, while others say they are from Asia.
Gaborone Mayor Haskins Nkaigwa said that the informal sector is flourishing at the bus rank because of the numbers.
'The bus rank has high numbers of people and this attract those that are selling to the bus rank,' he said.
Nkaigwa said that they do not have any problem with the informal sector, but are still awaiting approval of certain laws.
The legislations would empower them to be able to deal with them. He stated that the laws would make them deal harmoniously with them.
'It will help traders to be organised, to be regulated and enable them to take care of the environment,' he said, adding that they do not have problems with those that are selling seasonal products.
'If we are empowered by law it will enable us to do demarcations, so as to easily control this sector,' he said.
For those that are engaged in illegal businesses at the bus rank, Nkaigwa said that they are aware of them. He said that the problem is that enforcement of the law is very difficult for councils.
'The law can easily be enforced if the council had a municipal police,' he said.
He said that currently they have only 22 by-law officers at their disposal.
He said by-law officers, with the help of the police, are the ones that should enforce the law at the bus rank.
Nkaigwa said creation of the municipal police would help create employment. At the same time this would bring in money in the council coffers.
'With functioning municipal police, it will be easy to curb this illegal trading, at the same time bringing in money through charging the culprits that will be arrested,' he said.
While the council observes the laws or lack of life in the bus rank still governs itself, but the fibre that connects traders is their spirit of 'Botho'.
They observe that they have to treat each other as equals, and have to look after each other.