Rebecca Plumbley As a popular, low-cost, carbohydrate fast-food mealie (corn-on-the-cob) cooking has a long history in Warwick and its surrounds. Like many other activities in Warwick mealie cooking has recently undergone its third iteration of infrastructure to enable informal workers. There are currently around 64 cooks, the majority of whom are women. As some of … Read more
Rebecca Plumbley Several variables have an impact on the livelihoods of informal workers- one such factor that Asiye eTafuleni has noted is the implications of the seasons, which have an influence on resource availability. In times when their supply is low traders cannot easily diversify what they sell as they are likely to then be … Read more
Rebecca Plumbley Train services into Durban city centre have been interrupted and are having knock-on effects on informal traders. As part of a vulnerable economic ecosystem, informal workers are not always able to anticipate and mitigate shocks- such as a drastic drop in passing trade due to the lack of trains. The interruption of train … Read more
Rebecca Plumbley Almost a month ago a fire destroyed around a third of the Traditional Herb and Medicine Market- directly impacting 77 traders. Asiye eTafuleni spoke with some of the traders whose goods were burnt in the fire to find out what their experiences of the past month have been: “Everything was destroyed. From the … Read more
Rebecca Plumbley There are approximately 700 bead sellers in Warwick, the majority of whom are women. Most of the bead sellers are from areas outside of Durban such as Ndwedwe and Umzinyathi. They work in family units in their homesteads- coming in to the city on Fridays to sell their wares. In part, this is … Read more
Rebecca Plumbley On Sunday the 29th of July a fire burnt around a third of the Traditional Herb and Medicine Market. Video with permission from a known source. The Traditional Herb and Medicine Market is comprised of 289 permitted traders selling traditional medicine in the form of herbs, roots, dried plants, bulbs and bark. In … Read more
Phumelele Mkhize For people living and working informally, the opportunity to travel and exchange ideas with similar people from other places in the world is rare. In August 2016, a team from Asiye eTafuleni (amongst whom were two women informal workers), along with members from various organisations in South Africa including waste pickers from SAWPA … Read more
Photo courtesy of Thomas Ferreira Annalise Mathers Last month, Durban sadly lost one of its most gregarious informal recyclers, Afrika Ntuli, to a taxi accident. In the past few weeks, friends, family, and colleagues have worked together to gather funds for the funeral in honour of Afrika. His story is a poignant one for community members … Read more
Photo taken by Emilia Bonsembiante, received from Michael Flanagan at designworkshop:sa Annalise Mathers The International Architecture Exhibition Biennale is widely recognized as one of the most famous and prestigious artistic events in the world. This year, marking the 15th edition of the Exhibition entitled “Reporting from the Front”, is being held from May 28th to November … Read more
