Feeding the common people of Johannesburg, 1930-1962

The experience and everyday struggles of the common people constitute a vibrant theme in the new wave of African historiography which is influencing South African studies. The present analysis represents a contribution to a popular historical geography and focuses upon the world of the coffee-cart traders of Johannesburg, a community of street traders engaged in supplying food and drinks to Black workers in the city. Coffee-cart traders occupied a niche in the urban economy which opened as a result of the shortcomings of existing suppliers, the Native eating houses, and of the meagre provision of feeding facilities for Black employees at the workplace. Themes of concern are the growth and organization of the trade, the characteristics of the trader community and their struggles to maintain and extend this 'informal sector' business as a means of livelihood in the city.