2010 FIFA WORLD CUP BY-LAW CONCERNS

The municipal bylaws which have been promulgated specifically for the soccer world cup in host cities come into operation on 7 May 2010 and will remain in effect until 15 August 2010.  Lawyers for Human Rights (“LHR”) has been monitoring the implementation of these bylaws and remains concerned about the potential for abuse of these bylaws by municipal officials and, in particular, by police and metro police. From what we have observed in certain municipalities, these bylaws are being used to “clean the streets” of street traders and homeless people.
 
The 2010 FIFA WORLD AND CONFEDERATIONS CUP: SOUTH AFRICA BYLAW has been passed in all the host cities where soccer matches will take place. In terms of these bylaws, “authorised officials” will be empowered to enforce the provisions relating to advertising, controlled access sites, public open spaces and city beautification, public roads and traffic guidance as well as street trading.  
 
Familiar sights to South Africans who regularly attend soccer matches will, for the most part, be absent during the world cup.  Informal traders will no longer be allowed to sell their wares around the stadia and other demarcated areas, car guards will no longer be watching cars by the side of the road and no one will be able to sell anything which resembles anything to do with the World Cup for the next three months.  
 
Informal traders are especially vulnerable to these bylaws.  Street traders usually live hand to mouth and depend on their revenue from selling their goods by the side of the road to buy food, pay school fees and uniforms for their children, and provide a roof over their heads.  They are certainly not in competition with international corporations such as Coca-cola or Budweiser.  Another trait of this process has been the lack of information from municipalities on how the bylaws will be enforced and what they mean.  Only recently have the City of Johannesburg and the eThekwini Municipality begun sharing information with informal traders, many of whom have been trading on the same spot for years.  Many of whose complaints of police harassment and the indifferent attitude of municipal officials have fallen on deaf ears for years.  
 
Unfortunately, increasing incidents of harassment and “sweeping the streets” take place in the Johannesburg CBD where homeless people are being charged with loitering to remove them from the streets and in Cape Town where reports have municipal officials removing people to areas far in the Cape Flats.   A recent and telling example was the attitude of municipal officials in Rustenburg responding to a letter in which LHR lawyers complained of harassment of the street traders and the homeless.  Their response emphasized the importance of such actions before the World Cup.
 
LHR will continue to monitor the situation throughout the World Cup and afterward to ensure that the rights of the poor and marginalised are not violated through the seemingly lawful use of these bylaws.  As such, we call on municipalities and law enforcement to do the following:
 
·     That all “sweeping the streets” campaigns aimed at the poor and homeless end immediately;
 
·     Ensure that municipal bylaws are enforced fairly and with the input of trader associations and civil society; and
 
·     That complaints about harassment and unlawful police actions must be addressed immediately and publicly;
 
We should reiterate how excited and proud we are as South Africans to be hosting the World Cup and look forward to hosting the world within our borders.  Let us show the world that South Africa is a tolerant and socially conscience society moving towards social justice and equality.  Our guests will expect nothing less.  
 
 
For more information, please contact:
 
Louise Du Plessis
082-346-0744 / louise [at] communitylaw [dot] co [dot] za

Jacob van Garderen

082 820 3960 / jacob [at] lhr [dot] org [dot] za