Windhoek, May 25 — The City of Windhoek clarifies the incident of Monday, 19 May 2025, involving illegal traders/vendors and members of the Windhoek City Police in Werner List Street (CBD). The City of Windhoek, through the Windhoek City Police Service (WCPS), continues to intensify efforts to maintain law and order within the city by enforcing municipal by-laws. As part of this mandate, WCPS launched Operation “My City, My Pride” on Tuesday, 13 May 2025, focusing on curbing unauthorized street trading in Zone 14 (Central Business District).
The operation was prompted by a growing number of complaints from formal business owners of informal traders operating in front of their premises, obstructing entrances and disturbing customers.
It is important to clarify that the City’s town planning scheme does not permit informal trading along Werner List Street. However, in order to support informal trading, the City of Windhoek has converted specific parkings into designated trading areas elsewhere in the CBD. These spaces have been clearly demarcated and numbered to ensure orderly trading.
Unfortunately, some vendors persist in ignoring these trading zones and instead trade in front of the Shoprite entrance or even in the middle of the road. Such conduct not only disrupts the orderly movement of traffic but also poses safety hazards to the traders themselves and the public.
Regarding the incident, the City Police officers who were on patrol around 13:00h each encountered two traders operating illegally on Werner List Street. Upon being instructed to vacate the area, the traders refused to comply and were subsequently arrested. Such illegal trading zones or face a fine of N$500, as stipulated in the City’s Municipal Street and Traffic Regulations. In cases of non-compliance with these Trading Regulations (General Notice 252 of 1999), the officers proceeded to confiscate their materials.
The situation escalated when the traders resisted and obstructed law enforcement efforts. A crowd began to gather, increasing the risk of confrontation. As a precautionary measure, and in line with standard operating procedures, backup was called. The action was taken with minimal force and no injuries were recorded at the time.
A senior officer from the City Police arrived to the scene and successfully de-escalated the situation. The traders, who were arrested, were escorted to the City Police Professional Standards Office, where the matter was resolved amicably. A courtesy warning notification was issued to the informal traders instead of formal charges.
Source: Namibian Times
