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.

More Shopping Experiences

There are many more smaller but no less exciting shopping malls and shopping districts scattered around Durban. These include the Davenport Centre in Glenwood, Windermere Centre in Morningside, and the Workshop in the city centre, just across the road from Tourist Junction. For fine art pieces with an African flavour visit the Bat Centre, African Art Centre in Florida Road or one of the city’s many art galleries.

The Essenwood Market in Durban on Saturdays is the area’s premier craft market. Centrally located, it trades in the best of local curios, hand-made jewellery, clothing – whatever you want! The Stables Lifestyle Market held on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays is Durban’s most unique shopping experience with over 230 shops set in stables built over 100 years ago! The weekend market at North Beach has a fascinating assortment of stalls offering gifts, curios and novelties.

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 Shongweni Farmer’s Market held every Saturday morning near Hillcrest is the best place to buy organic produce, fresh flowers and delicious breakfasts, and has a wonderful country atmosphere

Street Shopping

Durban is renowned for its curries and spices, and a visit into town will swamp your senses with strange and exciting flavours. The Victoria Street Market (on Bertha Mkhize Street), The Spice Emporium or even just a meander down Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street (formerly Grey Street) will give you a glimpse of the mix of Eastern and African cultures that make Durban so unique. Pavement sellers are a common sight on Durban’s streets and especially along the beachfront, and for the visitor seeking local handmade curios there is much on offer at affordable prices.

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.