In the heart of Fichartpark a residential suburb in Bloemfontein we found Sarah a lady from Zimbabwe (8 years in Bloemfontein) and her informal business, making African furniture. Sarah has 4 dependants and employs 3 people. She shares the site with other informal traders.   Sarah is a business woman and although she is in the informal sector she runs her business quite successfully. Sarah can read and write but has not completed schooling; this is in agreement with literature reports. Her raw materials are acquired through both formal and informal sector, suggesting a linkage or contribution to the formal economy. She buys wood from Builders Market and the palm grass are sourced from Durban. The transportation of the grass to Bloemfontein is organised through linkages with friends and people she knows from trading; all very informal but reliable and cost efficient. She employs 3 people, one that helps in the ‘shop’ and two informal artisans hat produces the furniture according to her drawings. The artisans had no formal training but they can interpret Sarah’s instruction. Sarah is happy with the location as it puts her in contact with the potential market, more affluent customers. Sarah is a bit removed from the guy that sells his smokes and cola (literature) in the city centre that relies on numbers of feet to make a living; rather she needs to present a unique commodity to potential buyers. This unique commodity is prone to cloning/copying and competition is tough. She needs to constantly evolve her line of products to be one ahead of the competition.   Sarah’s concerns are in terms of the physical environment and in terms of the market and are best described by the video. The video contains suggestions that planners can do to help Sarah and although it may seem particular to Sarah's case study it is applicable to other informal traders as well.     Reference: Sethuraman, S.V. (1997) Urban Poverty and the Informal Economy: A Critical Assessment of Current Strategies. Unpublished Thesis, Geneva: International Labour Office.

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Martin Botha,  Rohan de Klerk & Alwyn Hugo