By Selloane Ntshonyane
- Traditional traders at Bara taxi rank say business has been quiet this Heritage season, but they’re still hoping for a turnaround before 24 September.
- One trader hopes to make R6,000 to cover her children’s school uniforms next year, while another hopes for R20,000 to finish renovating his home.
Traditional traders selling at Bara taxi rank say business has been unusually quiet this Heritage season, but with the day itself still ahead, they haven’t given up hope yet.
Zodwa Mtshali, from Nancefield Hostel, has sold traditional items at Bara for more than ten years. Her stock includes full traditional attire and her own handmade beadwork, necklaces, bracelets, belts, headpieces and amafahlawane, traditional leg bracelets. On a good day, she makes between R600 and R800. On a bad day, she makes nothing at all.
Last year’s Heritage Day brought in good money, she said, but this year has been much slower so far.
“I still have hope that I’ll make money because the date has not arrived,” Mtshali said.
She’s hoping to make R6,000 this Heritage Day, enough, she says, to buy her children’s school uniforms and stationery for next year.
To manage the uncertainty, Mtshali has cut back on how much stock she buys upfront, now ordering mostly based on what customers have already requested. Business tends to go quiet through most of the year, she said, picking up during busy seasons like Heritage and the festive period, when traditional weddings, lobola celebrations, umembeso and umemulo ceremonies bring in more customers needing traditional wear.
Mike Mbatha, from Diepkloof, runs Mike’s Traditional Herbs at Bara, selling items including iqansi, calabashes, Zulu attire, imikhonto, isagila and traditional medicine. He’s been trading there for five years. On a bad day, he makes around R300. On a good day, closer to R4,000.
“I wish to make at least R20,000 for this Heritage Month, especially from bulk orders for parties and weddings,” Mbatha said.
If he reaches that target, he plans to use the money to finish renovating his house back in KwaZulu-Natal. He said competition has grown tough, with many other traders now selling similar traditional items both at Bara and in the Johannesburg CBD.
Stats SA recorded 5.7 million people in informal employment in the last quarter of 2025, with informal sector employment growing by a further 34,000 between the first and second quarters of 2026.
This year’s Heritage Month is being marked under the theme “Celebrating Our Living Heritage: Strengthening the Ties That Bind Us,” according to the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. Heritage Day itself falls on 24 September.
Pictured above: Traditional traders selling at Bara taxi rank say business has been very slow this Heritage season, but they are hoping that the day will bring in customers.
Image source: Selloane Ntshonyane
