Recent talk was that vendors will start receiving their packages as soon as last week, however, that has not been the case. In fact, they have to wait a little longer than expected before finally receiving such packages.
This has been confirmed by the chairman of Maseru Street Vendors Association Molefi Paneng in an interview with Metro on Tuesday.
Paneng said the major setback had been the flawed registration processes with regard to the accurate numbers of street vendors currently practicing and licensed in Lesotho.
Initially, he said the numbers were estimated at around 2 536 active street vendors in the country, but it had recently been revealed that the figures were incorrect as many people had been left unregistered.
These initial statistics, for instance, has pinned Mokhotlong as the only district which does not have even a single street vendor, the assumption which is far from the truth.
Due to some of these inconsistencies, it means all relevant stake holders have to restart the process of registration which now delays the entire process.
“We had a meeting with the Ministry of Small Business on Monday and it was agreed that the current registration of vendors is flawed and has to be critically looked into. This is because many people were left out, while Mokhotlong appears as the only district with not a single street vendor.
“So, we have to come up with a proper registration model as soon as possible in order to have everyone covered and to avoid further delays. We have another meeting on Thursday in an effort to come up with proper registration,” Paneng added.
Around the world, street vendors are among the most vulnerable to the ongoing economic turmoil wrought by the coronavirus. This is because most street vendors work to earn money for the next day and not for the day after. But since the coronavirus pandemic, they have been struggling to make ends meet.
