Street vendors increase at Rehoboth

The number of street vendors operating at Rehoboth have increased since the beginning of this year.

Vendors are selling various items including fruit, vegetables, clothes, shoes, beauty products, hats and hair products.

Vendor and single mother of three Caroline Beukes, who sells shoes, said she needed to find a way to financially provide for her family.

“I was previously working as a domestic worker but I lost my job when the family who employed me moved to Windhoek. I handed in my CV for several months, but did not find a job. I bought a few shoes on account and started the business,” Beukes says.

Beukes says finding employment across the country is not easy and encouraged those who are unemployed to find ways to financially provide for themselves.

“I have wasted a lot of money making my CV and paying for transport from one place to another where I handed in my CV. Not having money and not being able to provide for your family can push you to do bad things such as committing suicide, stealing or starting to sell illegal things,” Beukes says.

Vendor Brandon Narib sells food, and says he enjoys his work.

“I am a great cook and decided to go into this business because I am passionate about it. I have studied to become a chef, but never got a job after my studies. This platform might be small, but I am glad for it. I get to make money, feed people and work in the food industry, which is my dream,” Narib says.

Client Lee-Roy Strauss says he is pleased to see more vendors in the town. He said sometimes buying from a vendor saves him time as queues inside shops might be long.

“I am glad to see people do something for themselves. Seeing this is a good motivation for others who also want to start up their own businesses and be their own boss. If you do your business right, then you can be a huge success and grow your brand,” Strauss says.

Strauss urges vendors to keep the town and their businesses clean.