Traders in Durban’s Warwick Triangle Early Morning Market will continue trading into August amid bureaucratic bungling and a recent Durban High Court decision.
On Wednesday, Judge Herbert Msimang adjourned the hearing of an interim interdict application brought by traders until August 15. The traders had sought to stop evictions — scheduled to start on July 31 — as the city prepares to demolish the 99-year-old heritage site and replace it with a R400-million mall.
This to allow the developers, Warwick Mall Pty Ltd, to join the city’s application and allow the traders’ representatives, the Legal Resources Centre, to file a similar application on behalf of the bovine head and chicken sellers in the adjoining area.
While the municipality had intended to start evictions on July 31, it appears the city fathers hadn’t informed their bean-counters: earlier in July, rental slips for August were sent out to the traders.
Said trader Sagie Naidoo: ‘All the traders paid up for August as soon as we saw the rental requests. They’ve taken our money, so they can’t expect us to stop trading.”