Vendors fear doom as forced removals loom
MOSA MAOENG
Hopeless!
That is the situation facing hordes of ordinary vendors whose businesses operate along the road networks earmarked for rehabilitation by the Roads Directorate come February 21, 2025. These rehabilitated roads networks in Maseru included the Moshoeshoe and Kingsway Roads from the main city traffic circle to Ha Hoohlo.
The same project has run its course on the Kofi Annan road including maintenance works from the Ha Hoohlo intersection to Pioneer circle heading off via Maseru Mall traffic circle to Ha Thetsane to Ha Penapena and further to the junction where road intersects A2 road.
This is a massive roads improvement drive which should
have been welcomed with open arms.
However, because of the country’s mountainous terrain which makes driving on secondary roads hazardous, unpaved roads in the interior are often narrow, winding, steep and poorly maintained.
With the scheduled maintenance many people either living around, or in adjacent areas of the road are bound to be affected by such works and to make road rehab easier they face forced removals. These include residential buildings and small businesses which include local vendors desperate to make a living. The roads undertaking will see the Roads Directorate remove all people who have encroached on the road reserve along the two roads come February 21, 2025.
Moshoeshoe Road (A6) and Kofi Annan Road (A7) are part of these.
The Roads Directorate has said the road reserve is encroached by doing the following within the road margins without obtaining approval from the Roads Directorate: constructing a building, erecting a fence, making a ditch or dike or any other thing, planting trees, placing anything, leaving or keeping any structure on the road whether resting on wheels or in any manner.
Road reserve is the full width of a road, including roadways, shoulders, side drains, road sides and sidewalks and the air space above such roadways and all other areas within the road reserve boundary.
The Roads Directorate Act of 2010 gives the Road Directorate the authority to acquire and protect land earmarked for road network development and to determine and make recommendations to the minister on the need to declare road reserves and building restriction area along any road.
This reporter sat down with the affected people from Ha Tsolo Usave area along the Kofi Annan Road who were notified of the Roads Directorate’s impending forced removals of their properties (shacks) by February 21, 2025.
Most of these are street vendors.
The same vendors who opted for anonymity for fear of being targeted speaking to this reporter said they have had running meetings with the directorate to save their businesses, but with no clear decision arrived at on whether the removals will go ahead as scheduled.
They said they were told to move on their own by February 21, or matters will take a nasty turn. The vendors indicated that they had asked for a meeting before the given deadline, the meeting failed to materialize and no decision was taken on whether the removals would continue by as scheduled.
“What we believe is that, this is a specific fight against vendors in this area. There are many businesses here which we think they will not remove, it looks like it is just us,” they said.
These vendors allege that when they sought permission for establishing their small life sustaining businesses, they followed legal procedures to situate their shacks along the road. This after they talked to the area chief who listed their names down and then send it to the Maseru City Council (MCC) for review.
They claim they were later granted permission to erect their shacks a distance away from the road so that when the directorate makes pavements it would not distort the whole process.
This, they insist, they obeyed. “We did comply. We are not in any way hindering movement where we are situated. There was a reconstruction of the road from the Thetsane Circle and yet the vendors were not asked to move. Why is it not the same with us?” they rhetorically asked angrily albeit to no possible relieve. These vendors are small scale businesses start up with little to make for a living – they resorted to opening their businesses near their places of residence because they do not have much to spend on transport to and from town. Now a dreary future lies ahead.
Kamohelo Makojoa, a vendor shared that they were also told to move and lucky for him he was able to find space for relocation, others not so lucky.
Many, left hopeless, would have to sit back at home doing nothing in the midst of growing unemployment in the country.
Makojoa said they were recently shown where the road reserve actually supposed to be.
“We were told to move 15 metres from the centre of the road, not just us but solid buildings along the road, some reputable businesses, are said to have encroached on the road reserve. They will have to move. Not only that, but Usave packing lot will also be affected,” said Makojoa.
Usave is a South African multinational supermarket with a number of outlets in Lesotho. Many are skeptical it will be affected like the rest.
The Roads Directorate shared insights on the removal of vendors and businesses along the Road Reserve on the Moshoeshoe Road (A6) and Kofi Annan Road (A7) at a presser last Monday.
The vendors and businesses were issued letters stating the date in which they should have moved their properties which is February 21.
The Directorate’s Director General, Teboho Mokhoane, said they had made guidelines, engaged internal and external stakeholders, held community gatherings beforehand as well as public awareness and have also engaged the media.
He noted that now they are at the state where they are making enforcement to avoid encroachment of the road reserve.
“We are on the journey of removing those that are already where we have resumed work . . . if we find anyone fixing their car in the road or anyone building a shack we will have to solve that matter immediately,” he said.
He mentioned that they are already in talks with those that seem to have built permanent structures along the road reserve. He said they are doing this in alignment with the Roads Act of 1969 and the Roads Directorate Act of 2010 which highlight the meaning of a road reserve.
Roads Directorate Manager Corporate Communications, Nozesolo Mpopo, had also detailed in an interview with this reporter that the only way the public could stop encroaching on the road reserve is by having clear and visible demarcated road reserves with installation of road reserve markers, regular monitoring (road reserve patrol) and enforcement actions (transgression notices etc.).
She noted that community awareness campaigns, stricter regulations, review of the Road Act of 1969, strengthening collaboration with local authorities, enforcement with the Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS), utilizing Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping to identify encroachments for database and monitoring purposes as well as strengthening collaboration with the Land Administration Authority (LAA) could go a long way in saving both the Directorate and financially pitiable vendors.
“Roads Directorate does not issue leases. Councils and the LAA do this function. There are working arrangements per case with LAA to provide lease boundary maps and Roads Directorate road reserve approval for lease applications, there is also a construction permit committee of RD with MCC and other stakeholders; LEC, WASCO, Energy etc.,” said Mpopo.
She also mentioned that these adjudicate applications for developments within the Maseru CBD.
“There are district community development committees which comprises the DA, Councils, economic planners, business representatives to mention a few at districts to which cases of encroachment in developments are adjudicated,” she said, further noting Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) are being developed for formal working agreements.
Furthermore, the Roads Directorate on January 1, 2023, had suspended applications for new businesses along, A1 – Maseru Main Circle to Selakhapane, A2 – Maseru Main Circle to Masianokeng, A6 – Moshoeshoe Road, A7 – Kofi Annan Road, A10 – Kingsway Road, B20 – Thabong Circle to Lakeside, B21 – Ha Motšoeneng to Ha Makhoathi, B31 – Mookoli to Ha Tšosane, B311 – Junction to B31 through Naleli to Ha Foso and B60 – Seputana via Temong to Maqalika.
The Roads Directorate made recommendations for suspensions to mitigate high prevalence of traffic flow caused by the same businesses.
The types of businesses affected by the suspension are hardware shops, supermarkets, filling stations, liquor stores and most of these were registered businesses.
He indicated that the suspension was for Maseru district applications only at the time adding that the purpose of the suspension of applications for access was to enhance traffic flow, lower traffic accidents and to slow down the rate of encroachments into the road reserve.
“The suspension was prompted by amongst others the following; the current design guidelines prohibiting access within a space of 500m (minimum) and 600m (maximum) respectively depending on factors of the land available, increased level of traffic disruptions by traffic trails into businesses disrupting traffic flows,” she said.
She further mentioned that high level of encroachment by businesses causing loading and off-loading in the road reserve disrupting traffic flows was another cause.
Mpopo said, “The Roads Act of 1969 outlines offences in the road reserve, encroachment is one of the activities listed as offences in the Act necessitating RD to enforce compliance with the law.”
The Roads Directorate, under the Ministry of Public Works, was established by the Roads Directorate Act No 16 of 2010 as government’s semi-autonomous corporate statutory body.
Its key mandate is to implement government policy on roads related matters through the road network planning, development and maintenance and to undertake quality assurance on all roads and construction of rural footbridges.
The Roads Directorate is currently responsible for the management of the national road network connecting all the districts and border posts, including roads connecting the urban centres with small towns within the districts and arterial roads running through the urban centres.
The total road network under the jurisdiction of the Roads Directorate is approximately 6 906.25 km, of which 1 798.76 km are paved, 3 830.52km are gravel and1, 276.98km are earth roads.
It’s a week now past the February 21 deadline and no movement is visible from neither the Roads Directorate nor the street vendors, and Mpopo said her department doesn’t always act swiftly upon expiry of a deadline.
“We give people time to comply, until such time that we will be forced to remove them ourselves,” Mpopo said.
