Asiye eTafuleni
The Pitch
Asiye eTafuleni (AeT) worked with consultants and activists to increase representation among workers at Durban’s Warwick Junction and design safer environments for its vendors.
The Problem
Durban’s public transit node and market was a congested, crime-ridden and neglected no-go zone following years of disinvestment and marginalization of informal workers. Informal workers represent 50-80% of urban employment globally.
The Process
- Worked with the municipal government and private stakeholders to invest in the informal economy
- Initiated community empowerment projects to help traders advocate for their rights and participate in municipal decision-making processes
- Strengthened the community’s legal literacy through a partnership with the Legal Resources Centre that provides workers with pro-bono legal expertise and representation
- Facilitated collaborative redesigns of the area’s infrastructure, from new roofing and safer cooking areas to public toilets and First Aid and recycling stations
- Challenges and influences the municipality’s public space policies
- Launched “Markets of Warwick” tours, led by traders, to welcome tourists and locals into the area
The Impact
- Improved the livelihoods and capacities of informal workers and created a city that is more responsive to its residents and businesses—formal and informal
- Legitimized street trading and influenced other cities where street markets and public spaces are a backbone of local commerce
- Led to a 2014 ruling by the Durban High Court that impounding the goods of informal traders is unconstitutional, setting a landmark legal precedent
- Influenced Durban to approve 8 projects proposed by informal workers
- Directly affected 6,000-9,000 daily traders plus their families
- Increased Warwick Junction’s daily patronage to 450,000+
- Lowered barriers to work in recycling by providing trolleys and training
- Increased the amount of cardboard recycled and sold at Warwick Junction to 30 tons per day, giving Durban the highest recycling rate in South Africa
- Strengthened Warwick Junction’s role as an important urban economic node in the city
- Supported Warwick Junction’s Early Morning Market through market tours, opening new streams of revenue and increasing its recognition in the city
