CAPTURING A DAY IN A LIFE OF A FRUIT TRADER

It’s a common sight in South Africa to see someone selling fruit at the traffic lights. Most of us drive past without a second thought. Where do they travel from each day? How do they manage their stock? How much do they earn?

We sat down with Jerry and Lawrence, informal fruit traders from Mabopane, to understand their daily hustle selling fruit on the streets of Norwood, Johannesburg.

We captured their tale into an infographic highlighting a typical trading day. Their story offers some insight into how they run their business and the lengths informal traders will go to earn a living.

Jerry are Lawrence are but 2 of an estimated 2.5 million South Africans working in the informal sector. This represents almost 17% of total employment in the country. Businesses like theirs provide a critical safety net for the South African economy by supporting households’ incomes where government-led programmes and the formal economy do not. We should be doing all we can to improve the plight of folks like Jerry and Lawrence. A spatial understanding of their business activity is a step in the right direction.

Where there is data there is hope!