AeT has broadened their scope of work to respond to evolving urban needs; childcare

Sarah Heneck From an outsider’s perspective, this may seem unrelated to AeTs mandate, which is focused on supporting informal workers livelihoods. However, when one engages more deeply with the informal worker community of Warwick Junction it becomes clear that this community is made up not only of street vendors, market traders, informal recyclers and their … Read more

Workshop Launch of Vikelani Amalungelo (isiZulu for “Protect our Rights”)

Zilungele Nkosi The Know your Rights’ initiative aims to educate and equip informal workers operating in public spaces with legal knowledge which plays a direct and indirect role in their day to day lives. There is a general lack of knowledge and awareness about the municipal by-laws which tends to make life difficult for traders. … Read more

2019 SAIA-KZN Awards for Architecture

Richard Dobson Architect, in partnership with AeT, received a Special Mention for Work of Social Importance. Recognising the significance of urban design that impacts positively on some of the poorest and most vulnerable workers. Despite the City providing basic infrastructure for the Mealie Cooks, a major challenge lies in the current cooking method of using … Read more

Bovine Head Cooks Initiate a Clean-up

Despite informal workers’ significant contributions to the socio-economic urban fabric they experience prejudice; in particular public perception is that their working environments aren’t cared for and not kept clean. However, on the 10th July 2019, Bovine Head Cook representatives initiated a clean-up campaign of the Bovine Head Market because of the pride in their work … Read more

Non-Motorised Transport Operators: Integral Linkages in the Informal Economy

Sarah Heneck With the world’s ever-expanding urban population and the need to focus on environmentally friendly modes of transport in order to decrease carbon emissions, non-motorized transport (NMT) has become a major focus for city planners. Those who use cycling and walking as their means of commuting to and from work are generally at the … Read more

Film Screening of “We Came in Spring Carts”

Tasmi Quazi A documentary entitled “We Came in Spring Carts” was aired at the 1860 Heritage Centre in Durban during May 2019.  It refers to the Indian indentured labourers that were one of the very first set of traders, who used to transport their fresh produce in Spring Carts.  They were originally located at what … Read more

Warwick Junction’s Working Mothers – The Challenges of Balancing Livelihood and Childcare

Sarah Heneck Imagine this as your everyday life. You wake up at 3.30am in order to be able to bathe and get dressed before climbing on a 4am taxi to Warwick Junction. The taxi ride takes half an hour and you try to have a nap but you are interrupted by the numerous stops that … Read more

Asikhulume Ngamalungelo (isiZulu for “Let’s Talk about Rights”): Informal Street Workers are Gathering in Solidum

Thuli Moyo When mechanisms in place fail to fully protect the vulnerable, then empowerment and knowledge remains the only defensive stronghold for the protection of informal workers’ rights. Incident forums are designed as an advocacy tool to advance socio-economic rights for informal traders in urban spaces and are being piloted in Warwick Junction, Durban CBD … Read more