(Clive Read at the protest march. Pic by Beverley Sigamoney)
Veteran Durban cameraman Clive Read will screen his
documentary, We Came in Spring Carts,
about the conflict between traders of Durban’s Early Morning Market and the
Durban City Council over the proposed development of a mall on the site of the
Market, at the Market on July 12 at 14h00 in the presence of the traders.
In early 2009 Durban was frantically preparing to host some
of the major FIFA World Cup soccer games to be held the following year. The
Early Morning Market’s days were numbered. A private developer, together with
the Durban City Council, proposed to build a modern shopping mall on the market
site. An estimated 5,000 people directly or indirectly employed by the market
would lose their jobs.
With the FIFA deadline looming, the City Manager together
with the 2010 Programme Head decreed that the market be demolished to make way
for an upmarket shopping mall with the usual major commercial tenants as well
as a taxi rank. This had to be completed before the games commenced. A vague
promise of relocating the market traders to a new site was met with fierce
resistance from the stallholders.
Read explains: “After South Africa won the bid to host the
2010 soccer world cup, the country pulled out all the stops to impress FIFA and
their worldwide audience. When traders at Durban’s one hundred year-old fresh
produce market were told they had to make way for a new development tied to the
event, they stood their ground. The Council fought back with lockouts, rubber
bullets and intimidation. We came in
Spring Carts documents the trials and tribulations of these humble people
to where they are today,” “In early 2009 investigative journalist Beverley
Sigamoney convinced me to join her in documenting the unfolding crisis at The
Early Morning Market.”
Black Coffee productions are kindly sponsoring the screen,
audio and projector. Entry is free and all are welcome! For more information contact
Clive Read on csread@mweb.co.za or 082
570 5364
We Came in Spring
Carts can be seen at the Market on July 12 at 14h00.
To see the documentary visit https://filmfreeway.com/project/833021 (password
clivesread)
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