Warning for all Western Cape N1 and N2 drivers!
If you frequently drive on the N1 or N2 (Western Cape) passing along small towns renowned for its fruit farms, you may be used to seeing hawkers at the side of the road with fruits such as apples, grapes and peaches.
However, motorists should be warned against buying any fruit from these hawkers as the fruits are more often than not stolen from the farms and most of the fruit sellers are even associated with gangsterism, which makes it a dangerous situation for any prospective buyer.
This is at least true for towns such as De Doorns (N1) and Grabouw (N2). Citizens of the small town of Grabouw, renowned for its apple production, are fed up with this scam and have spoken to officials to get rid of this practice, but nothing has worked so far.
Selling stolen fruits is illegal, but the actual danger lies with the fact that these so-called ‘fruit sellers’ actually have a hidden agenda and lure prospective fruit buyers thinking they are getting a bargain, with the target to attack and mug them.
One disgruntled citizen from Grabouw commented on a public forum that there need to be signs along the N2 depicting a fruit seller on one side of a car with a man with a knife on the other. “There are real dangers here. If there are no customers, the practice will die out.”
He also stated, “The SIS and the traffic department do stop and confiscate the fruit if they can catch them, but the ideal is to take the SAPS with a van along and arrest and detain each fruit seller. Take them to the station, finger print them and record them.”
This has also posed a threat for motorists. The same citizen commented, “I use the local N2 on a frequent basis and I often move onto the shoulder of the road when it is safe to do so in order to allow faster traffic to pass me. I cannot do that when there is a fruit seller on the side of the road, or a vehicle has stopped to buy fruit.”
NOTE: There is an importance to LEGAL street trading in the RSA as one of the biggest sectors of the informal economy in South Africa, however this needs to be done with a valid trading licence and all other rules and regulations that apply to street trading in South Africa.
(Source & Images: Facebook & Grabouw Community News Page)