During a meeting held at the Kaizer Chiefs Village in Johannesburg on Thursday morning, Amakhosi brand manager Dara Carroll and members of the Kaizer Chiefs vending programme made a commitment for a closer working relationship between the two parties.

The club has approximately 50 accredited vendors made up of informal traders who form part of a wider economic programme developed by the club to empower themselves. Vendors sell official licensed Kaizer Chiefs products at Chiefs matches both home and away, help to get products part of the Kaizer Chiefs licensing programme into the market place.

The vendors have for the past few months been the subject of abuse from illegal vendors, selling fake Kaizer Chiefs merchandise. The vendors have set up a committee which will liaise with the Amakhosi brand manager in order to weed out with the help of the Police Services persons selling fake goods at Chiefs games.

When the PSL season resumes in February, official vendors who are part of the programme will be accredited with a special accreditation card and will also receive a special bib at each game so that supporters can identify them as carrying official merchandise. “It is important for our vending programme to be streamlined at the Stadiums, as we need to protect our licensees and sponsors and the first place to start is at our games,” said Kaizer Chiefs brand manager Dara Carroll.

She continued further by saying; “as a Club, Kaizer Chiefs would like to see the advancement and economic growth of people and through this programme we are hoping to assist a number of people in running their own businesses. It must not be a once a week thing we are trying to ensure that our vendors can make a decent living on a day to day basis selling Kaizer Chiefs products at various places in Johannesburg and for that matter around the country."