FREE TO READ | The Township Economy magazine

The township economy is a vibrant mixed bag of opportunities for all.

GG Alcock sums it up perfectly on page 18, where we share an extract of his recent book, Born White Zulu Bred: A Memoir of a Third World Child, that says: “Most people think of the township or informal economy as rows of hawkers, their wares laid out on cardboard carpets on pavements or rickety tables crammed cheek by jowl on the peripheries of taxi ranks. Or they think of spaza shops, little holes in the wall or backyard corrugated iron structures, their dark insides filled with daily necessities, small sachets and outdated foodstuffs. They don’t think of Nomhle, who has converted the yard of her inherited four-room house and built a two-storey block of six back rooms that she rents out at R2,000 per room. Or Mbali, who has three roadside Chicken Dust outlets — literally a row of braai drums under a colourful stretch fabric tent, and sells more than a thousand grilled chickens a week, buying them for R40 and selling them along with a salad and maize meal pap for R110.”

These small businesses may not yet account for the revenues of big corporates, but the collective impact they already have on the economy and the potential for increased opportunities means we can no longer ignore them.

Browse through the full magazine below (zoom in or go full screen for ease of reading):