Local NGO a finalist in global impact competition
Asiye eTafuleni has been honoured internationally for its intervention work in Warwick Junction.
LOCAL NGO Asiye eTafuleni (AeT) is one of the five finalists in the inaugural US-based global competition WRI Ross Prize for Cities for its intervention work in Warwick Junction.
From an extensive field of nearly 200 applications from around the world, AeT is thrilled to be one of the finalists. They join innovative projects from Colombia, India, Tanzania and Turkey on the shortlist – projects chosen for their transformative impact on cities in multiple ways, including economic, environmental and social change.
The NGO was founded by city officials working for the municipal urban regeneration project, Patrick Ndlovu and Richard Dobson in 2008. They have been working alongside municipal officials and informal workers to resist inappropriate redevelopment and cooperatively transform the city’s most vibrant market area.
“This urban evolution is notable in that it has sustained and stabilised thousands of informal livelihoods for over 22 years, while simultaneously embedding more equitable and participative city-making processes that are engaging informal workers and municipal officials in progressive and innovative ways,” said Richard Dobson, Co-Founder and Project Leader for AeT.
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AeT now engages with deeper and evolving trader needs that have risen as a result of them achieving the right to work in this space. Their programme supports informal workers through legal advocacy and equipment design as well as responsive and innovative infrastructure that repurposed public space in order to support sustained livelihoods. This was made possible by encouraging continued local government support. While individual incomes are often still modest, traders support families living in the poorest parts of the city and provide essential goods and services to nearly half a million daily commuters. Together these incomes and activities contribute significantly to the urban economy.
Patrick Ndlovu shared: “AeT being among the top five finalists globally is a great achievement for informal workers, the city of Durban and South Africa as a whole. This gave AeT and informal workers, as well as city officials, a platform to showcase the achievements, failures and learnings to reflect on going into the future. Aluta continua! Amandla!”
“We know cities need to change. We also know that people are finding new ways to build thriving, healthier, greener neighbourhoods every day. We hope these projects, each of which has had an outsized impact on their cities, help people understand what’s possible,” said Ani Dasgupta, Global Director of WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.
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