Warwick Junction, Durban

Last updated July 19, 2019

Warwick Junction, also known as Warwick Triangle, is a transportation and trading hub in the city of Durban, South Africa.^[1] It is the largest of its kind in South Africa.^[2] The area sees up to 460 000 people daily,^[3] who come to the area to for its transport interchange and market shopping.^[1]

Durban is the third most populous city in South Africa—after Johannesburg and Cape Town—and the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. Located on the east coast of South Africa, Durban is famous for being the busiest port in the country. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism because of the city's warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches. Durban forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes neighboring towns and has a population of about 3.44 million, making the combined municipality one of the biggest cities on the Indian Ocean coast of the African continent. It is also the second most important manufacturing hub in South Africa after Johannesburg. In 2015, Durban was recognised as one of the New7Wonders Cities. The city was heavily hit by flooding over 4 days from 18 April 2019, leading to 70 deaths and R650 000 000 in damage.

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Bantu ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European, Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.

History

Initially used as a market space by Indian traders during apartheid, the area become popular with black traders towards to the end of apartheid.^[1]

Indian South Africans are citizens and residents of South Africa of South Asian descent. The majority live in and around the city of Durban, making it "the largest 'Indian' city outside India". Many Indians in South Africa are descendants of migrants from colonial India during late 19th-century through early 20th-century. At times Indians were subsumed in the broader geographical category "Asians".

Apartheid System of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (Namibia) from 1948 until the early 1990s

Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (Namibia) from 1948 until the early 1990s. Apartheid was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which encouraged state repression of Black African, Coloured, and Asian South Africans for the benefit of the nation's minority white population. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day.

Black people from South Africa were at times officially called Bantu by the apartheid regime. The term Bantu is derived from the word for "people" common to many of the Bantu languages. The Oxford Dictionary of South African English describes its contemporary usage in a racial context as "obsolescent and offensive" because of its strong association with white minority rule and the apartheid system. However, Bantu is used without pejorative connotations in other parts of Africa.

Markets

Warwick Junction is home to nine distinct markets, where informal and formal traders sell a variety of products, from food to traditional medicine. There are approximately 5000 to 8000 vendors in the area.^[1]

Traditional African medicine is a traditional medicine discipline involving indigenous herbalism and African spirituality, typically involving diviners, midwives, and herbalists. Practitioners of traditional African medicine claim to be able to cure various and diverse conditions such as cancers, psychiatric disorders, high blood pressure, cholera, most venereal diseases, epilepsy, asthma, eczema, fever, anxiety, depression, benign prostatic hyperplasia, urinary tract infections, gout, and healing of wounds and burns and even Ebola.

The Bead Market has vendors who are mostly from coastal areas adjacent to Durban selling traditional Zulu beadwork items.^[4]

Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them with a sewing needle or beading needle and thread or thin wire, or sewing them to cloth. Beads come in a variety of materials, shapes and sizes. Beads are used to create jewelry or other articles of personal adornment; they are also used in wall hangings and sculpture and many other artworks.

Berea Station Market, located near two rail stations, has vendors selling traditional Zulu items such as spears and shields, as well as modern clothing and technology items.^[1]

The Bovine Head Market consists of vendors who cook and sell cows' heads, a traditional African delicacy.^[1]

Brook Street Market consists of two sections: an upper level food court, and a lower level market with vendors selling clothing and household goods. It is located alongside the Badsha Peer Shrine, built by the original Indian traders in the area.^[1]^[4]

The Early Morning Market is the most famous of all the markets at Warwick Junction, and consists of up to 200 traders. Products on offer include fresh produce, spices and flowers.^[1] This market has been earmarked for a shopping mall development

The Herb Market consists of vendors who sell traditional African medicine. There are up to 700 traders in this market. Traditional healers diagnose customers according to their ailments and then recommend a herbal product for the relief of symptoms.^[1]

The Impepho and Lime Market has vendors who sell white and red lime, mined in Ndwedwe north of Durban. This lime is used by sangomas, or traditional healers.^[1]^[5] Vendors also sell incense known as impepho which is believed to help with communication with one's ancestors.^[4] The impepho vendors are almost exclusively from Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape Province, who collect the herbs that grow in that area and travel to Durban to sell them.^[5]

Victoria Street Market was founded in 1910, and consists of 180 traders with individually-owned stores selling jewellery, spices and traditional art.^[1]

Transportation

The Warwick Triangle area became an important transportation hub during apartheid, as Indian and African-owned buses were not allowed access to the inner city.^[5] Today, the area is the largest transportation hub in the city, with a taxi rank, bus rank, and railway stations linking to the city's different nodes.

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Markets of Warwick | Home". www.marketsofwarwick.co.za. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
↑ "Warwick Junction - Great Public Spaces". Great Public Spaces. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
↑ van Schilfgaarde, Kara (2013). "The Trajectory of Warwick Junction as a Site of Inclusivity in Post-Apartheid South Africa". Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection.
1 2 3 "The 9 Markets of Warwick Tour". South Africa Travel News. 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
1 2 3 Hemson, D (2003). CBD Durban with special emphasis on Warwick Junction. Hatfield: SARPN (Southern Africa Regional Poverty Network).

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Markets of Warwick | Home". www.marketsofwarwick.co.za. Retrieved 2016-10-14.

[2] "Warwick Junction - Great Public Spaces". Great Public Spaces. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2016-10-14.

[3] van Schilfgaarde, Kara (2013). "The Trajectory of Warwick Junction as a Site of Inclusivity in Post-Apartheid South Africa". Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection.

[:1-4] 1 2 3 "The 9 Markets of Warwick Tour". South Africa Travel News. 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2016-10-14.

[:2-5] 1 2 3 Hemson, D (2003). CBD Durban with special emphasis on Warwick Junction. Hatfield: SARPN (Southern Africa Regional Poverty Network).