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Case Study:Durban: A Heterogeneous Solution Through Public Private PartnershipThe city of Durban in South Africa, took anon-restrictive approach to street vending. Itdemarcated sites throughout the city; changedthe legal framework that governed street tradingfrom criminal to administrative law; decreasedthe cost of trading spaces; and guaranteed servicessuch as basic shelter, solid waste removal,water, toilets, lighting, and storage facilities.The city also created an appeal committee offive members, of whom at least one was requiredto be a street vendor, where municipaldecisions can be reviewed.However, as the majority of informal businesseswere in the traditional medicine sector, it wasnecessary to provide access to market. Over30,000 people, mostly women, worked in thissector. Through direct intervention, Durbanbuilt a dedicated market for traditional medicinetraders with shelter, storage, water, andtoilet facilities. It also trained gatherers on cultivatingproducts and sustainable harvest techniquesand is currently planning to establisha company to procure materials from growers,process them in partnership with a pharmaceuticalfirm, and market the products.(Source: Lund and Skinner, 2005.)Case Study:Buy-back Centres for Waste Collectors:A Public-Private-Community Partnership ModelWaste collectors are amongst the poorest ofthose working in the informal economy. In SouthAfrica, since legislated racial segregation ofurban areas was abolished, there have beenincreasing numbers of waste collectors operatingthroughout its cities. They are largely blackwomen whose incomes are extremely low. In themid-1990s the Self Employed Women’s Union(SEWU) organised cardboard collectors in theinner city of Durban/Thekwini. The union foundthat these collectors were innumerate and oftenexploited by unscrupulous middle-men, and itlobbied local government to assist them.Through SEWU’s activism, and the understandingby the City Council that waste collectionprovided a livelihood for many residents, a buybackcentre was established in the inner city.This is a public-private-community partnership.The Council provided a small plot of centrallylocatedland that was converted into the centre,and a large private-sector recycler provided thescales, storage containers for the cardboard andtrolleys for the collectors. SEWU worked alongsidecity officials to design the interventionand trained the cardboard collectors on how toweight their cardboard. Through this intervention,the collectors sold their cardboard directlyto the recycling company. This has substantiallyincreased the (albeit still low) incomes of thesewaste collectors. The success of the inner citybuy-back centre has led to the Council establishinga number of similar centres throughoutthe city. (Source: Mgingqizana, 2002.)240