Tongaat market vendors struggle as renovation deadline passes - IOL

Temporary site puts Tongaat market vendors under financial and weather pressure.

Tongaat Morning Market vendors say declining foot traffic and poor conditions at the temporary Pension Cottage site are threatening their livelihoods as they await the municipality’s promised completion of renovations.

The renovations, which began in June, were initially expected to take three months, with completion promised for August 28.

However, vendors say the deadline has passed, with little visible progress and no satisfactory updates from officials.

They said the expected completion date was now the end of October.

Pravin Gopal, a vendor and deputy chairperson of the Tongaat Morning Market committee.

Pravin Gopal, a vendor and deputy chairperson of the Tongaat Morning Market committee, said vendors had gone weeks without receiving communication from those responsible for the project including the eThekwini Municipality.

“We have received no communication from the officials handling the renovations. They are not answering our calls or emails. When we asked the ward councillor, she also had no luck.

“How can it be that the renovations which started four months ago is still not complete despite the August deadline?” Gopal asked.

He said work had also been halted at one stage shortly after the renovations began, adding to concerns about delays.

Gopal said attempts to obtain answers from senior city officials had left vendors frustrated, particularly as they had little information about the project's progress or the anticipated return date.

“When I enquired with the senior officials at the market, they said that I was overstepping my role. But since then we have had no communication for about five weeks,” he said.

Market vendors braving the heat to make ends meet.

According to Gopal, vendors visited the market site weekly to monitor progress, but had yet to receive a confirmed timeline.

“We are hardly seeing progress. We go every week to check the progress, and we recently asked the market co-ordinator when the job would be completed, and he just said, ‘We will let you know’.

“It is very disheartening that they are playing with our livelihoods,” he said.

The relocation has also exposed vendors to the elements, with Gopal claiming the past three Saturdays had brought heavy rains that left the grounds muddy and difficult to navigate.

Tongaat market vendors forced to sell their goods on the ground and in the heat.

He said vendors had asked permission to trade in the market's parking area but were told this would only be considered once the asbestos roofing had been removed.

“It has been removed, but still our request was not considered,” he said.

Gopal said members of the community had stepped in to help provide shelter for some vendors, while others continued trading without protection from the sun and rain.

“The municipality only supplied one security guard and the grounds, but nothing else. We even contacted the mayor, with no response.

“We just want people to communicate with us, and we are not even getting the foot traffic we used to at the market because people do not want to come to the grounds and walk in the heat or rain,” he said.

Nisha and Vinade Ramruch at their savory stall.

For vendors whose businesses depend on regular customers, the relocation has meant more than an inconvenience, with the loss of foot traffic affecting their ability to earn a living.

Nisha Ramruch, who has traded at the morning market for 20 years, said the temporary site had made it particularly difficult to sell prepared food.

“It is very difficult to sell our savories on the grounds. It is dangerous to be frying in the open with people walking so closely, also the weather makes it even more difficult.

“We are seeing a decrease in customers. The municipality is playing with our livelihoods. We cannot even afford to say we no longer want to trade like this because we need the money, especially with the cost of living on the rise,” Ramruch said.

Market vendors selling their vegetables without any form of shelter. From left: Joyce Msomi, Octavia Masango, Lungini Makhaba and Tholakele Ncobo.

Vegetable vendor Joyce Msomi said she had no shelter and was forced to continue selling her produce in the heat and rain because she could not afford to stop trading.

 “Right now, I am not even making ends meet because hardly anyone visits the market, either because they do not know where we are or because it is a bother coming to the grounds.

“I cannot even afford to hire a shelter. I am battling. I just want to move back to the market premises,” Msomi said.

The conditions have also raised concerns about safety at the temporary trading site.

Suresh Sewshanker, a plant vendor who has been trading at the market for four years, said vendors had received little support since being instructed to leave the premises.

“Since we were told to leave the market with little to no support, we have received no communications on the renovations. It is tough to trade here on the grounds. The conditions are terrible,” he said.

Renovations being done at the Tongaat Market premises.

Sewshanker said the muddy grounds had already resulted in an injury after a person slipped and fell following rainfall.

“The other day, a person fell on the ground because it had been raining. They slipped on the mud and even got injured. This way of us trading is not right,” he said.

The eThekwini Municipality's spokesperson, Senzelwe Mzila, said the project was expected to be completed by the end of October.