To celebrate the International Women’s Day, self-employed women from KaMsogwaba and surrounding villages marched to local spaza shops, demanding an equal share in the local economy.
“Our concerns include bias in the local economy. Many spaza shops in the area sell the same products like veggies and snacks which most women sell at their informal businesses.
“It becomes very unfair to us when customers will rush to buy one or two tomatoes or potatoes for a one rand from a spaza shop, leaving hawkers who sells the same products at R5 a packet of four. These women are also trying to raise their children and are looking after their orphaned grandchildren,” said Shirley Mabuza, the organiser of the march.
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“We asked the spaza owners and managers to be considerate of the plight of women out there by avoiding to stock veggies, fruits and those goods that we also buy from them to resell,” she said.
Nelsiwe Nkosi one of the marchers said the march was a success and had served the purpose of raising awareness on issues that affect women from the area.
“How can a spaza shop sell packaged beans, roasted and crunched peanuts like we do. No this must stop, we have children to raise. The child support grant we receive from government is not enough for all our needs. Hence we started fruit and vegetable stalls and now we compete with well-established spaza owners,” she said.
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The women agreed that from now on they start selling their products near spaza shops to be visible enough to customers.
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
