Fruits of democracy turn sour
Joanne Salome Kisten, a 50-year-old Durban street vendor, says the advent of democracy brought hope and opportunity, providing her with the chance to earn a livelihood and eventually own a home.
But Kisten — who sells fresh fruit, sweets, cigarettes and other snacks outside RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth, south of Durban — says the lives of street vendors have gone from good to bad.
She adds she has become increasingly dismayed over the years as the promises of progress slowly evaporated.
“I’ve been a street vendor for 30 years now. I was 20 years old when I started with my father,” she says. “The dawn of democracy and freedom brought my family the opportunity to feed ourselves.
“I have managed to buy a house and send my kids to school by selling fruit. The early days of democracy were not the same as the current days. I don’t think we are as free now as we were 10 years ago,” she adds.
The biggest issue for Kisten is the cost of living.
“For me, the prices of stock are very high, so we don’t make much in this struggle. Financially, as a country, we are not free, she says.
“It’s hard to make a living these days, and food is just too expensive. Look in front of you — everything is just deteriorating. The once-promising infrastructure has crumbled — that includes the roads and state facilities such as hospitals. There is crime and unemployment ... it’s a lot.”
Kisten says significant change has undoubtedly taken place over the past 30 years, but the challenges that continue to plague the country have also been laid bare.
She is looking forward to the May 29 elections and hopes her vote could lead to change.
“One must appreciate that we are free to vote. We must use that freedom to bring about change in everything we are unhappy with as a country,” she says.
“Our children are educated and unemployed because there is serious unemployment in this country. This brings me back to my statement that we are not financially free.”
Kisten says Durban street vendors have little to celebrate; many of them don’t have permits and the police regularly confiscate their stock.
She says the authorities failed to supply them with permits even after they had applied. Now they are forced to sell their wares without a licence. That’s the only way for them to make a living and support their families.