Sithulisile Moyo PART 1: #narratives of an informal worker: Treat us with dignity “They need to stop impounding our goods. Find other ways to harass us. Sondl’ imndeni ngalamatafula”. It’s in the wee hours of the day at an informal settlement in Kwandengezi, MaNgcobo is busy preparing for the long day ahead working at … Read more
Misiwe Maphumulo and Sarah Heneck Recycling has a multitude of benefits; it protects the environment, saves the municipality money, and helps many people sustain their livelihoods. Let’s unpack this a little bit: Protecting the environment: Recyclable materials such as cardboard, paper, plastic, cans and glass that are not recycled either ends up as litter in … Read more
Although the current pandemic has impacted almost every corner of the world and highlighted our collective vulnerabilities, it has not levelled any playing fields, but rather has drastically heightened inequalities.
Sarah Heneck & Joanne Lees The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and the Department of Economic Development established a number of sector-based task teams in order to develop post-lockdown economic recovery strategies for KZN. One of the task teams focused specifically on the informal economy. Patrick Ndlovu, one of AeTs co-founders, was … 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
Misiwe Maphumulo Street trade is pervasive and a source of employment and income for many urban dwellers. WIEGOs recent /survey shows that 61% of livelihoods are earned through informal work. A secure environment is a prerequisite for formal business, this shouldn’t be any different for the informal sectors. Everywhere informal recyclers experience strong prejudice and … Read more
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
