Cloete purchases her produce from the Cape Town Market in Epping. She says goods have become a lot more expensive over the last year. Ten kilos of ginger used to cost R1,500, “but you pay up to R3,200 now” she says. Because of the prices, Cloete sometimes finds herself purchasing on credit, something which she wouldn’t have done before.
And the lack of customers means that there is a greater chance of produce getting old. With the new year, she says that things still haven’t picked up. Normally she is able to save some money, but now “I can’t afford to put R20 away,” says Cloete.
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On most weekends, the centre of Gatesville in Cape Town would be bustling with crowds of people shopping for everything from fresh produce and homemade mango atchar (mango pickle) to religious clothing, and even face creams. But since the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown started in March 2020, few people come to a street which used to overflow with footsteps and chatter. And the informal traders are left without shoppers.
“Business really dropped a lot,” says Sharifa Cloete, who has been trading fruit and vegetables for over 30 years on what she calls the “Gatesville-Rylands” market, as the market stretches into both suburbs. On a busy day, she says, she would make up to R8,000. Now she is grateful to make R2,000.