What we see in practice is informal traders existing in a complex space—caught somewhere between exclusionary urban regeneration projects, and waiting for the state. In this transitioning space, urban regeneration sits in tension with informal trading—a context in which these traders need to be given a voice, and where such research becomes valuable, in displaying a textured reality.
Le commerce informel est un moyen bien connu et classique de gagner sa vie dans les villes sud-africaines. In contrast with this official definition, in practice, informal trading is a loose and more innovative term, generally given to any small business that does not exist in a formal building structure nor adheres to formal economic structures, unlike formal registered traders. Over the last decade, however, it has increasingly been acknowledged and recognized in South African urban policy and development agendas as an important livelihood source for the urban poor and historically disadvantaged individuals and communities, and the notion of informality has been incorporated in public documents as an acknowledgement of the international developmental discourse on the value of informality.
However, the practice of informal trading in public space referred to as street trading in this paper often sits in tension with urban planning and regeneration projects—meaning that informal traders are forced to renegotiate their existence in these spaces of transition. The translation of this policy into practice is the source of much of the tension described above, and will be a major focus of this paper.
Several urban regeneration projects have and are taking place—reorganizing the space and shifting the role and responsibilities of the state, traders both formal and informal and various actors involved in these developments.
This is where the tensions arise. On the other hand, and largely in response to the tensions that arise through the physical, we have traders waiting for development plans to materialize, but inventing and reinventing spaces for themselves in the meantime through individual negotiation, encroachments and innovation as well as collective action in an attempt to assert a space and a place for themselves and their businesses in the KCBD.
Although, most significant here is the observation that embedded in the spaces and relationships across both axes, is the true architecture of this complex and varied space: the everyday experiences of uncertainty, confusion and waiting.
The traders indeed navigate between two archetypal statuses: the status of regularized trader a person who is registered with the City, and who has been delivered a permit to trade in a designated area by the local authority ; the status of informal traders those who work without such a permit and on a land that has not been zoned for trading purpose.
They often find themselves evolving in the grey spaces of everyday changing informal arrangements with the state, characterized by a high degree of uncertainty Roy, It will then immerse into uncovering the elements that knit together the true fabric of this space: the everyday experiences, ordinary practices and agency of informal traders in this space, as they sit somewhere between urban regeneration, waiting for the state and reinventing a space and a place.
Presented through an ethnographic journey, the symbolic realities of confusion, uncertainty and fragmentation of traders in the KCBD will be exposed. This will allow us to see how the KCBD informal trading area is both a physical and a symbolic space—simultaneously reordered and reinvented through everyday experiences and practices.
What one can expect from such an approach, and hence from this article, is thick and fine-grained empirical qualitative data that unveils pockets of everyday understanding and experiences in the study area, by placing value on individual narratives and understandings to better cast light on larger urban issues.
Lufefe was not only a wonderful translator, but also a voice of local insight and knowledge. The fieldwork component spanned three weeks and included direct observation and regular interviews with 4 traders we identified as key informants.
This snowballing methodology fueled on his good reputation on the trading Committee, 1 and in conversation with Lufefe, the pair added great insights into the responses we received from traders, by elaborating on and questioning comments made by other traders. The interviews and discussions conducted with the traders were semi-structured.
Lufefe used my camera to photograph what we discussed together was relevant and would complement our findings. Moreover the KCBD case study does not reflect all the dynamics at stake in the metropolitan area as far as street trading are concerned. Looking at different African cities, Steck et al argue that the governance of street trading often reiterates historical neocolonial processes of regulation and constraint. Street trading is continually targeted as an undesirable disorderly practice in cities, whilst public authorities praise it for its local economic developmental potential Steck et al , —a contradiction we need to engage and study on the ground.
All too often informal trading policies, which aim to harness the socio-economic developmental potential of street trading, sit in tension with local agendas built on urban policies that aim to modernize South African cities Steck et al , This often results in urban planning for such modernization projects contradicting plans to promote local economic development for informal trading. In this research, this kind of thinking aids in reframing how we conceptualize street traders as social figures, texturizing pre-conceived notions of informality, marginalization and exclusion.
I use these notions as a conceptual language for analyzing these practices and debates. In summation, this body of work calls for the democratization of cities from below, to redefine participation and reclaim political or economic rights. Much of this work is conceptual, however and very few work actually draw on everyday practices and account for these practices and for the framing of an actual right to the city through everyday urban life.
Claiming an actual right to the city is however by no means straightforward in the informal trading context of the KCBD, it involves waiting: for proper stalls and service delivery, but working and hustling in the meanwhile; and navigating: spaces, regulations, land ownership issues, and management systems that constantly seem opaque.
They are concerned with the ways in which street trading and its regulation reorders and reinvents city spaces. This approach allows me to use the everyday, ordinary practice of street trading to reflect not only on governance and regulation, but also on the politics produced within this public space. My purpose is to see how traders experience, negotiate and create individual and collective agency in symbolic ways, as well as the politics produced through these practices as they wait for development all the while attempting to improve their livelihoods and grow businesses in KCBD.
In a very different context—an Argentinian shantytown facing toxic pollution—Auyero and Swistun analyze experiences of uncertainty, confusion and waiting. They observe that in the past, empirical research in the social sciences has tended to steer clear of uncertainties and contradictions that frequently arise in interviews and fieldwork, in fear that they will jeopardize the reliability of the data.
Yet, confusion is often part of the everyday reality of waiting. Whilst waiting for development, traders make choices in their everyday practices and respond to underdevelopment and spatial reordering in nuanced and inherently political ways.
It is a very useful concept for the context of informal trading in Khayelitsha, as it helps us analyze the experience of waiting for development, drawing attention to the ways in which traders respond to waiting in the short-term by encroaching and reshaping trading spaces, whilst waiting in the longer term for promised development to materialize.
It points at the uncertain nature of their relationship to the state and of their unstable position between formal and informal situations that should be conceived as the two poles of a continuum rather as fixed positions. The everyday hustle and bustle of the informal trading space is certainly what brings the KCBD to life, however, when immersing yourself into the fabric and dynamics of this space, one is made to feel both enlivened, by the positive vibrant atmosphere, yet utterly disheartened by the poor state of the trading environment.
Informal traders, through both their physical presence and daily trading practices, are seen to claim various spaces and assert themselves in this vibrant area in myriad, meaningful ways that essentially define and redefine this transitioning public space. Throughout this research, it became increasingly clear that the KCBD is a highly fragmented space, made up of various spaces that have different degrees of formalization, management, organization and trading activity.
KfW Development Bank is a private promotional bank specialised in the promotion of development programmes in Germany and worlwide; it is very active in South Africa where it has provided funding for several programmes on energy-climate change, the prevention of violence, and HIV Aids.
However, the ITP has still not progressed past the first of four implementation stages, despite several audits. These 4 stages include: planning, trader registration, bay allocation, and installing a permit fee structure. If implemented, the ITP would: provide traders with security of tenure by giving them designated trading spaces using a permit and fee system ; facilitate improvements to the trading infrastructure; and enhance safety and security in the area.
The second stage had begun, however it was never completed. This section also seeks to introduce the reader to various actors, whose stories paint both a structural and experiential picture of trading in the KCBD over time.
We brought Khayelitsha this far, and we want to take it further. We firmly believe in creating economic opportunity where we can. Sitting in his old ticket box-like stall at the Station, scooping his infamous toasted peanuts into small packets to sell, Rasta tells us that he has been trading here for 13 years, trying to become a successful businessman. They allocated 16 traders to 1. Surrounded by garbage and struggling to shelter themselves from the harsh winter winds, the Mall-side traders find themselves tightly clustered between the Station and the edge of the Mall.
Eunice and Mama have been trading here for 3 and 10 years, respectively. They explain that people trading on the other side of the rail were removed by PRASA about 5 years ago and flocked to the Mall-side, which was saturated with rubbish. Also, there is only one toilet inside the mall so if one wants water, one must go there.
These women express that all they want is basic things, like dustbins and water. Bonakele has been trading here for 6 years but has lived in Khayelitsha far longer, and provided a fantastic chronology of spatio-temporal change in the KCBD. He notes that people only started trading there informally from , but would get chased away because they did not have permits.
This prompts the government to pass policy encouraging and protecting the sector. The National Informal Business Upliftment Strategy of set up a framework of government assistance with skills development, marketing, technical support, infrastructure improvements and management training.
Non-governmental organizations are also working to improve conditions for informal traders. Asiye eTafuleni is an NGO in Durban that works with local government officials and vendors in the informal sector particularly the Warwick Markets to assist in developing infrastructure, consultations for urban planning and advocacy for informal workers. The organization also directs tourism to the Warwick Markets, educating foreigners and visitors on the functions and importance of the markets, and bringing the vendors eager customers.
Asiya eTufuleni is a member of the Inclusive Cities mission, which focuses on uplifting and strengthening groups of working poor in the informal economy. The Inclusive Cities project aims to support the urban poor through lobbying, policy planning, and research. These rights are under threat by the privatization of solid waste management in many cities across Africa. Inclusive Cities also conducts research and analysis of the informal economy to support future endeavors and activism.
There are many downsides to informal trade which make its participants particularly vulnerable. Informal business owners are often deterred from registering their enterprises by high taxes and strict regulations. At the same time, informal workers often depend on natural resources for their livelihoods and the limited reach of environmental regulation means that the informal sector can add to environmental degradation, depletion or damage. Many cities are already adopting such an approach, by including and recognising informal workers and systems in public service provision.
Cities that had already established partnerships or integrated approaches with informal workers have been better equipped and better able to mobilise these networks in response to the COVID pandemic. Recognising this contribution, as part of its COVID response, the city gave informal traders special permits to continue working.
Here, we outline four actions and considerations for cities to establish strong partnerships with informal sectors as part of their sustainable pandemic recovery. It is hard to overstate the scale of COVID job losses and the critical need to boost local employment.
This article sets out opportunities for a green, just and job-rich recovery - creating large numbers of high-quality jobs now while building a climate-safe, equitable future. Upgrading informal settlements is a long-term process, but COVID has made the issue more pressing.
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