http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=25477

Rising xenophobia
23 July 2009

THIS country is awash with strikes or threatened strikes for higher wages, and with township protests about government failures in service delivery. It seems that the gloves are off in spite of, or perhaps because of, the exigencies of recessionary times.

A disturbing feature in some of the current protest has been the resurgence of xenophobia. This has been particularly noticeable on the Reef where last year’s xenophobic attacks first broke out. It is unfortunately to be expected that, in straitened times, people will turn on one another where there is perceived competition or threat. This can affect anyone deemed to be “the other”, whether the person concerned is a foreign national from elsewhere in Africa or a fellow South African of a different culture or background.

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5093475

ANC administration sows seeds of racial discord

July 22, 2009 Edition 1

Trevor Ngwane

SHOUTS of "Hamba khaya! Hamba uye eBombay!" (Go home! Go to Bombay!) rang out, seemingly crystallising the mood of some of those at the public meeting called by the Durban city fathers at the ICC on July 10. The meeting concerned the impending closure of the Early Morning Market, which is hotly contested by traders of all races.

Later that afternoon I returned to my Chatsworth flat a troubled person. Most of my neighbours are of Indian descent, and since I moved here a few months ago from Soweto, they have treated me like one of their own.

War over Warwick rages on
Traders get third court order to open market

June 16, 2009 Edition 1

Lyse Comins

The war of Warwick Junction rages through Youth Day after traders obtained a third court order against eThekwini authorities.

The Early Morning Market traders secured another Durban High Court order yesterday forcing the municipality to open the market to legal traders tomorrow.

This came in the wake of another violent clash with Metro Police and a day of lost trade yesterday.

The Early Morning Market Traders' Association chairman, Harry Ramlall, said his attorney was scheduled to meet the city's legal counsel in court again today to clarify the dispute over legal and illegal traders in the market.

http://www.themercury.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=vn20090616052926246C772391

Market traders, cops clash
16 June 2009, 07:21

By Sinegugu Ndlovu

Five people sustained minor injuries on Monday when traders at the Early Morning Market in Durban's Warwick Junction clashed with metro police officers as tensions between the traders and the city continued to simmer.

The traders claimed they were attacked without provocation, while the metro police said they had been forced to fire rubber bullets to contain traders trying to force their way into the market.

http://www.dailynews.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20090615131411280C220198

eThekwini council in trouble with the law
15 June 2009, 14:56

The eThekwini municipality has been accused of defying a court order after it locked traders out of the Early Morning Market on Monday despite the Durban High Court ruling that they can trade.

Chaos broke out when metro police officers fired rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of people who wanted to break the market gate after the municipality prevented traders without valid permits from entering.

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5001111

Warwick mall plan is bad news for informal traders

May 27, 2009 Edition 1

MANY informal traders and other citizens of Durban have sent a strong message to the city council that they are not happy with the strip mall proposed for our primary transport hub - the Warwick Junction.

At a public meeting last Wednesday, more than 600 participants sang protest songs voicing discontent. Yesterday, protesters demanded the municipality "find somewhere else to build their mall".

Street Traders Threatend with Eviction for New Mall in Warwick Junction

A presentation to a public meeting by Caroline Skinner

Warm greetings to all, Sanibonani

In the light of a number of years of research in Warwick, there are four key concerns I want to raise both about the content and process of the current proposals for a shopping mall development Warwick.

1. The first issue is the number of livelihoods that will be affected.

On a busy day we estimate that there are 8000 street and market traders that operate out of Warwick. The city claims that the redevelopment will only affect the 670 Early Morning Market traders and the 185 traders working around the proposed site.

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4990904

6 000 WARWICK JUNCTION INFORMAL TRADERS AFFECTED
Anger over R400m mall plan

May 21, 2009 Edition 1

Lyse Comins

TENSIONS heightened yesterday over the effects of a proposed R400 million shopping mall in Durban's bustling Warwick Junction, as city officials and academics met representatives of 6 000 angry informal traders.

The traders, who fear the development will destroy their businesses, threatened to march to the city hall next Tuesday to protest against the development and what they say is a lack of consultation with traders and a "failure to follow the tender process".

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4988935

Traders feel threatened by development

May 20, 2009 Edition 1

Lyse Comins

Inanda woman Ntombikayise Gagayi, 44, works diligently in her makeshift kitchen in Durban's bustling Warwick Junction, where she cooks bovine heads for a living.

These she sells to her customers - a fraction of the estimated 460 000 commuters that travel daily through this busy intersection of traffic, train station, taxi ranks and bus terminals.

Gagayi, whose husband was killed in political violence in the early 1990s, depends on this passing trade to support her 10 children. She is one of 30 widows who sell bovine heads and other plated food at the junction's open-air food stalls.