Early morning market’s fight against City captured in doccie
The documentary of the Durban's brave Early Morning Market traders and their fight to keep the market going after the City had plans for a new mall on the site ahead of FIFA World Cup will be screened at the market tomorrow.
A VETERAN Durban cameraman will screen his documentary, We Came in Spring Carts, about the conflict between traders of Durban’s Early Morning Market and the Durban City Council over the proposed development of a mall on the site of the Market, at the Market on Tuesday, 12 July at 2pm in the presence of the traders.
Clive Read’s documentary follows the story of resilience of the young and old traders at Durban’s historical Early Morning Market. In early 2009, Durban was frantically preparing to host some of the major FIFA World Cup soccer games to be held the following year. The Early Morning Market’s days were numbered. A private developer together with the Durban City Council proposed to build a modern shopping mall on the market site. An estimated 5000
people directly or indirectly employed by the market would lose their jobs. With the FIFA deadline looming the City manager together with the 2010 Programme Head decreed that the market be demolished to make way for an up-market shopping mall with the usual major commercial tenants as well as a taxi rank. This had to be completed before the games commenced. A vague promise of relocating the market traders to a new site was met with fierce resistance from the stallholders.
“After South Africa won the bid to host the 2010 soccer world cup, the country pulled out all the stops to impress FIFA and their worldwide
audience. When traders at Durban’s one hundred year old fresh produce market were told they had to make way for a new development tied to the event, they stood their ground. The Council fought back with lockouts, rubber bullets and intimidation. We came in Spring Carts documents the trials and
tribulations of these humble people to where they are today,” explained Read. “In early 2009 investigative journalist Beverley Sigamoney, convinced me to join her in documenting the unfolding crisis at The Early Morning Market,” he said.
Black Coffee productions are kindly sponsoring the screen, audio and projector for the screening which is free and open to the public.
