A good Samaritan has come to the rescue of traders who have been ordered to move from their spot in front of the Drostdy Arch.
Recently Grocott's Mail made public the plight of beadworkers and other crafters who sell their wares from the Drostdy Arch, at the entrance to Rhodes University in Somerset Street.
A good Samaritan has come to the rescue of traders who have been ordered to move from their spot in front of the Drostdy Arch.
Recently Grocott's Mail made public the plight of beadworkers and other crafters who sell their wares from the Drostdy Arch, at the entrance to Rhodes University in Somerset Street.
They were served with urgent eviction notices by the manager of the Albany Museum, Bongani Mgijima, last Monday.
Explaining that the area was not zoned for trading activities, Mgijima said he'd had four meetings with the traders before serving them with the letter, and that he had helped some of them find alternative trading spots.
Now Grahamstown resident, Colin Ehrich, has invited the traders to come and sell their wares at Somerset Park, in the corner of Huntly and Somerset Streets.
Ehrich said he had been deeply touched when he read in Grocott's Mail last Tuesday that the traders had to move. “They have been here for so long. I just want to see them happy and safe,” said Ehrich.
The traders, who operate under the name, Masithandane Cultural Group, accepted Ehrich's gesture.
Beadworker, Nothemba Makinana, described the eviction notice as a blessing in disguise. “We were heartbroken and scared when we received the eviction notices, because we did not know what we will do.”
ellow crafter Sylvia Ndwayana said, “We are happy to get help from a white person, when we are evicted by a black person.”
