Durban’s Inner City Informal Transport Network

By Priyanka Govender Barrow operators are an integral part of the well-oiled machine that is the inner cities’ Warwick Junction. They play a huge role in the street ecosystem by acting as a transportation service. They cart heavy cargo to and from places on their equipment. Their routes can take them through busy roadways or … 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

Bovine Head Cooks Part 2: Urban and Ritual Metamorphosis

Rebecca Plumbley This blog post is the 2nd part of the story of the bovine head cooks; read part 1 here. The evolution of the bovine head cooks in Warwick Junction speaks to two interrelated transformations- a physical urban metamorphosis and the urbanisation of rituals and traditions. The bovine head cooks were originally located on … Read more

Kanyenathi (and Newsletters)

The Kanyenathi project, in which traders were trained to identify and prioritise their infrastructure needs, was carried out over 3 years and ended in 2017. Having identified their needs, the intention was to then enable a process for the informal workers to engage with the City on an ongoing basis. Whilst the research project is now … Read more

Mealie Cooks Part 2: Evolving Infrastructure

Rebecca Plumbley This blog post is the 2nd part of the story of the Mealie Cooks; read part 1 here. The cooking process of mealies involves placing 13 dozen mealies in a 200l steel drum with 40-50L water and 45g of bicarbonate of soda. This is then covered with a piece of plastic and left … Read more

Human Factors and Informal Work

Rebecca Plumbley In continuing the partnership between Rhodes University and Asiye eTafuleni, further anthropometric work is currently being conducted by a masters student in Warwick. AeT is encouraged that work is being done to understand some of the finer grained challenges faced by informal workers. Anthropometry refers to the proportions of the human body and … Read more