Business blooming for flower sellers
Michaela Coel the first black woman to win Emmy for Best Writing
USED to arranging bouquets for birthdays and weddings, the Adderley Street,
Cape Town flower sellers are these days getting more requests for funerals, memorial flower arrangements and condolence flowers as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alison Snyders and her sister, Karin Bachmann, have been selling flowers for 40 years at the Adderley Street Flower Market.
Snyders said recently most frequent requests have been for flower arrangements for funerals and condolence baskets.
Snyders and her sister were introduced to the market by their grandmother, who was also a flower seller.
Snyders said the increase in the requests followed the move from adjusted level 4 Covid-19 lockdown in terms of the Disaster Management Act.
“It’s still in high demand. It was mostly Covid-related or sudden deaths,” said Snyders.
Faldiela
Gamildien, a flower seller for over 10 years, was brought up in a family involved in the cut flower trade for almost 30 years. She said general requests were for funerals, weddings, birthday celebrations and major holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Christmas.
Gamieldien said they were, however, seeing an increase in flower orders for funerals due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It started to increase about three months after we were hit with the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa and up until now it hasn’t really slowed down, to be honest.
“We are definitely experiencing a lot of Covid-19 deaths,” Gamieldien said.
Gairoeniesa Oliver, 42, has been selling flowers since the age of 14. “This is a part of our heritage. I grew up selling flowers.
“Funerals have become the more popular requests. We’re seeing lots of Covid-19 deaths, every day.
“We are 14 people competing with one another, but everybody has a funeral every week – a couple of them.” |
GHANAIAN-BRITISH actress Michaela Coel made history at the 73rd annual Emmy Awards on Sunday, as the first black woman to win an Emmy for Best Writing.
Coel, the creator, writer, co-director and star of the HBO limited series I May Destroy You, won her first Emmy for best writing in a limited series.
The limited series drama is about a talented writer coping with the trauma of surviving sexual assault.
Coel was born in east London, but her parents are Ghanaian. The actress reportedly acknowledged refusing $1million from Netflix after the streaming service declined to offer her intellectual property ownership of her show.
Social media users in Ghana were elated that one of their own had bagged a prestigious Emmy award.
In her acceptance speech, Coel encouraged other creators to “write the tale that scares you, that makes you feel uncertain, that isn’t comfortable …
“I dare you, in a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others, to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves,” she said in her speech.
Coel was included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
She was also named as one of the breakout stars of 2020 for film. |