By Buziwe Nocuze
- More than 8 million South Africans do not have a job, and second-hand clothes sellers say business is no longer just for grant recipients.
- Trader Princess Motswene recently lost more than R3,000 after customers took clothes on credit and did not pay her back.
Princess Motswene used to sell second-hand clothes mostly to people who depend on grant money. Now, she says, she sells to everyone.
“I have realised that most people buy second-hand clothes for different reasons,” she said. “Some love them, some don’t have money to go to the shops, but most people are now buying second-hand clothes.”
Motswene, 42, is from the Free State and sells trousers, jerseys and shoes at the Killarney taxi rank in Cape Town. On a good month, she makes more than R2,000. On a bad month, she barely makes R1,000.
More than 8 million South Africans are without work. Traders like Motswene say that number is showing up at their stalls.
She still gives clothes on credit, even though it has cost her. She recently lost more than R3,000 after customers took stock and never paid.
“Some of my customers are foreign nationals who left the country without paying me,” she said.
“I tried contacting them, but their phones are not going through.” She said local customers have also taken clothes on credit and changed their numbers to avoid paying.
Siziphiwe Mngweba, who buys from sellers like Motswene, said the stigma around second-hand clothes is gone.
“Gone are the days when second-hand clothes were undermined,” she said.
“We buy jackets from them for R200, the same jacket we would be getting at the shop for more than R500.”
Tabiso Lugogwana, deputy chairperson of the Khayelitsha Development Forum, said second-hand clothes trading is a survivalist business across Cape Town.
He said traders source stock from flea markets and other suppliers, and some trading spots require a City permit while others do not, a process he called red tape that can take long enough to put a trader out of business.
Pictured above: Princess Motswene lays out her stock of second-hand clothes and shoes at the Killarney taxi rank in Cape Town.
Image source: Buziwe Nocuze
