Bottle vendors struggle after Metro Katima Mulilo ban

Katima Mulilo pensioner Judith Ndabeni (70) has been walking the town’s streets for more than a decade, collecting empty beer bottles to sell and earn extra income to supplement her government old-age pension.

On a good month, she makes N$2 300. However, as of March, informal bottle vendors’ income streams were affected when Metro Katima Mulilo started buying empty Carling Black Label bottles from registered liquor traders.

Ndabeni, this week told The Namibian that she started selling these bottles nearly 10 years ago because her old-age pension grant was not enough to feed her family and herself.

She added that she often made sure to collect bottles to fill 100 crates, earning N$2 300 monthly.

“Since Metro stopped buying from us, I cannot feed nine mouths from my old-age pension grant. We need Metro to reconsider their decision because where do we get money to open a registered business if we cannot even feed ourselves now?

“The vouchers they used to feed us. But now I go for days without eating because the pension grant is going to water and electricity,” she said.

Another bottle vendor, Mary Samutuma, tells The Namibian that they are banned from being on Metro’s premises to sell their bottles to registered liquor traders.

She adds that as a single mother, this was her only source of income to feed her children.

“I was even paying my daughter’s nursing school monthly from these bottles. However, for the past seven months my finances have been struggling. I used to sell dry fish, but it does not bring as much income as selling bottles. We really need assistance from regional leaders because this is our only source of income,” she says.

Native Small Traders Association (Nasta) chairperson Simasiku Mulijani told The Namibian this week that the informal bottle vendors’ livelihoods are severely affected by Metro’s decision.

He called on Carling Black Label producers to set up a satellite office in order to assist these “stranded” vendors.

“It is a known fact that unemployment is very high in our region, and people sell these bottles to put food on their table. It’s important that this issue be attended to by the manufacturer, as well as the regional leadership. These people are also cleaning the town, as otherwise these bottles will just be lying around in town,” he said.

Metro Katima Mulilo’s branch manager, Lukas Ulenga, told The Namibian yesterday that they have stopped buying from unregistered liquor traders because the bottles they buy from them cause an overflow of empty bottles, which pile up with no use.

He added that when registered liquor traders buy from them, they exchange empty bottles for crates, which the traders use in their businesses.

“We have discontinued selling crates to informal traders because we are experiencing an overflow of empty bottles, which we do not know what to do with. Therefore, we have decided to only sell crates to registered liquor traders that are buying beer from us,” he said.

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