In Durban’s inner city, there comes a time when one must hold their nose as they walk past a place covered in a build-up of urine. The ammonia creates a strong smell that most struggle to stomach. As bad as this smell can be, the conditions created from this waste and the reasons behind it … Read more
Priyanka Govender Picture driving on the way to work, when suddenly the entire car takes a large thump. A pothole. A common South African experience, akin to the likes of home affairs queues and loadshedding right before a deadline. Usually a situation like this is resolved in a matter of days with an insurance claim … Read more
As part of Asiye eTafuleni’s (AeTs) response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of interventions have been initiated which are aimed at helping informal workers to protect themselves from the coronavirus as they return to their workplaces. One of these interventions is the Geza Izandla (isiZulu for ‘wash your hands’) station. Frequent handwashing is an … Read more
Thuli Moyo On the 18th June 2020, leaders of informal trading committees gathered for their regular Kanyenathi meeting. Kanyenathi (which means ‘with us’ in isiZulu) is an established community forum which gives traders the opportunity to formally engage with the City regarding infrastructure and maintenance issues in their places of work. Notwithstanding the absence of … Read more
Sarah Heneck This is a follow on piece, tracking the impacts of coronavirus on the informal economy. Read the previous blog here. After almost 6 weeks of no income for the majority of informal workers in Warwick Junction, the move to lockdown level 4 offered a slight relief for those who are now able to … Read more
Rebecca Plumbley As the national lockdown is gradually relaxed, AeT is preparing for the reoccupation of Warwick Junction. It is pressing to consider what a return to work might look like and to put occupational health and safety measures in place to protect both informal workers and their customers. In addition to the 6000 informal … Read more
Sarah Heneck The coronavirus (COVID-19) has made its way swiftly to all corners of the world and into all communities, but this pandemic disproportionately affects the most vulnerable members of society, in both health and economic terms (the latter will be the focus of this blog-post). Durban’s inner-city informal workers are some of most vulnerable … Read more
Toni Ottanelli-Gale As the wave of the COVID-19 pandemic reached South Africa, the nation mobilised swiftly and implemented necessary measures to ‘flatten the curve’ of COVID-19 cases. Despite broad awareness of COVID-19, an understanding of the way the virus spreads and mechanisms to prevent transmission of this highly contagious virus, were limited This is particularly … Read more
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
