Abstract
This paper explores Johannesburg’s Kerk Street Market through the ethnographic account of Zanele, a vendor who began selling spinach and green foods during COVID-19. Amid economic inequality, health emergencies, and urban transformation, Kerk Street emerges as a site of entangled ecologies where social, economic, and environmental factors intersect. Tracing Zanele’s experiences from 2014 to the pandemic’s aftermath, I examine how informal vendors navigate economic precarity and reimagine sustainable futures. Drawing on Weiss (2012, 2016) conceptualization of waste, I illustrate how discarded materials and surplus produce are creatively repurposed to sustain livelihoods and stabilize prices. This recycled economy highlights indigenous knowledge systems and resourcefulness, as vendors cultivate networks of exchange that challenge conventional notions of value and waste. Zanele’s practice of providing food waste to other farms without expectation of remuneration reveals an ethics of coexistence that disrupts capitalist frameworks. Acts of giving without return complicate understandings of reciprocity, sociality, and economic resilience within urban landscapes. Through these narratives, I argue that Kerk Street Market serves as a living archive of entangled ecologies—where resilience, creativity, and care converge to navigate crises and envision alternative futures. This paper contributes to broader discussions of memory, place, and sustainability by foregrounding how informal economies reshape connections to place and community within Johannesburg’s evolving urban landscape.
Presenters
Sapana SewpersadStudent, PhD Candidate, University of the Witwatersrand, Gauteng, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Food Production and Sustainability
KEYWORDS
INFORMAL ECONOMY, STREET FOOD, VENDORS, WOMAN, RECYCLING, WASTE, TASTE
