YAMS, BEANS & VELVET BRASSIERES
My favourite market in Joburg isn’t trendy, it’s a bit grimy around the edges, and you can’t get the sort of craft beer, single origin coffee or artisanal cheese which are the mainstays of most others. I can pretty much guarantee you won’t bump into a single hipster here. Sometimes called the African market, or the West African Market, this is a “real” market (yes I know one should be careful with that word), in the sense that it’s not there because markets are the “in thing”, but because, like the markets in Paris, Marrakesh and 100 other places, it serves a very everyday function for the immediate community. This is why, unlike most of our city’s markets, its open every single day, all day. It takes up a whole block on Raleigh Street, with the southern edge bordering Cavendish Street, where the old Piccadilly cinema once lured the white lefty contingent. Walk from the bright street into the shady roofed market area and you feel as if you’ve travelled hundreds of miles in seconds.
Vendors are almost all from immigrant communities. Angola, Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, and more, are all — people and ingredients — under this roof. You can hear the longing for their countries when vendors explain how to make cassava flour into sticky fufu porridge, or how much dried shrimp to crush into a peanut sauce for chicken. There are many things to try: yams both huge and small, dende oil (also good in peanut sauce), tinned sardines from Morocco, really excellent vegetables, and a huge variety of beans. There are tailors making up bespoke suits and frocks, as well as second-hand clothes, including some pretty lavish underwear. Neon nail varnish and Nike knock-offs round off the shopping options. Most sellers speak good English, but if your French is excellent, so much the better.