Introduction

The picture shows a selection of shoes available for purchase from a pavement trader

Shopping in Durban can be very first world or totally third world. It’s your choice. You can linger in luxuary malls and trendy antique shops or you can buy from street vendors and spaza shops where they may or may not bargain with you.

The magic of Durban is that you can enjoy both worlds, because here they live side by side, mostly in peaceful co-existance. Diversity is Durban and nowhere is it more obvious than in the variety of shopping experiences and facilities.

Mall rats have to visit: Gateway, the Pavilion, the Workshop, La Lucia Mall and Musgrave Centre, Chatsworth Centre, Phoenix Plaza.

There are a number of flea markets, especially over weekends where you can get original and second hand clothing, crafts and gifts. Some markets stock pirated CD’s and DVDS and other branded goods, so watch our for the cops.

Street traders across the city offer flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables, clothing and shoes at knock down prices.

Look out for weekend Farmers Markets where you can buy fresh produce and organic vegetables. These are usually advertised in the press.

The centrally located Victoria Street Market in Durban is a bustling modern version of the original Indian market, which burned down decades ago. Bargain for brassware, African baskets and carved ivory. Incense mingles with curries, spices and the exotic odours of the fish market next door and leads you past colourful saris and a vast array of nick nacks.

Visit the Warwick Triangle adjoining the Victoria Street Market for a totally different shopping experience. Leave this world behind and emerge in an ancient world of magic and sprits. This is the site of the muthi market where traditional healers sell pungent mixtures of indigenous herbs, plants, bark, snake skins, bird wings, crocodile teeth, dolphin skulls and monkey paws. Do not go alone. Enter only with a guide.

Township people mostly shop in the city at supermarkets or on their way home from work. Unlike suburban people who are able to shop in bulk because most get paid monthly and have their own transport, most township people comute by public transport, so they buy only what they can carry. Prices are marked up in the townships and informal settlements where people can buy in small quantities and consumers often pay greatly inflated prices for the convenience of buying from spaza shops or pavement dealers close to home who sell single cigarettes or sugar by the cup or paraffin or even water and airtime cards.