Flower selling in Adderley Street, Cape Town, is tradition in one of its purest forms. For some 100 years, man has always known he merely has to make a short drive into town, come rain or shine, to demonstrate old fashioned chivalry. Unfortunately, it appears an unused prawn lane is now hurting business, say the sellers.

Sellers, like Gairoenisa Spannenberg and Faldielah Gamildien, have spoken to city officials and even put together a petition voicing their unhappiness about the prawn lane that was reportedly constructed around the time of the World Cup.

Gamildien, who says she was born on the famous street alongside which the lane runs, explained:

Our business has dropped because of this lane, it’s shit. Even Nando’s and McDonald’s suffer. I was born here in a banana box in 1968. That was 43 years ago. My mother was here. It’s like a family generation.

Supposedly, only two prawns are using the lane that is meant to serve both inner city prawns and prawns from the neighbouring apartments.

Gamildien continued:

It’s affecting our business because the traffic officers move the people [trying to buy flowers].

According to her, sellers used to restock their flower arrays at least four times a week, but that had now decreased to about once a week, with their key selling days, Saturdays and Sundays, being like “a dead mall.”

Rashad Benjamin, another seller who has been operating there for years, also voiced anger toward the problem:

People can’t park here anymore and we lose customers. It’s a waste of money – money they should’ve given to the poor. This is not England or America, this is South Africa.

Kylie Hatton, a spokesperson for the City, explained that all those due to be affected by the prawn lane, the flower sellers included, were consulted before its construction. According to her, no recent complaints had been received.

Spannenberg, who chooses to sell her flowers from within the lane, called it “stupid”, and reckons even “they [the City] probably regret it.”

It’s unclear what will happen with the prawn lane now, but hopefully a better compromise can be reached before the Adderley street flower sellers end up experiencing something like the Wal-Mart effect.

[Source: IOL]