Shopping in the City

November 29, 2014

The city of Johannesburg is known across the continent for being the shopping mecca of Africa. While mall-culture is alive and well in Joburg (and I certainly am no stranger to it), there is definitely much more on offer if you know where to go (or are willing to do a bit of exploring). Ferreirasdorp is an area in the Joburg CBD that I have recently become more acquainted with as I have a client in this part of town, however I still find myself struggling to scratch below the surface and see what else this area has to offer.

And so, we joined a local tour company, Past Experiences, for an "Inner City Shopping Tour". The main guide of Past Experiences, Jo, was born and raised in Joburg and is an advocate for Joburgers getting to know Joburg. Doing this walking tour with Jo was like going shopping on a Saturday morning with a friend; it was super informal and chilled, and she was happy to share her secrets with us of all the best places to go. M and I had a blast checking out places in the city we likely would never found on our own, and walked away with a few great finds to boot!

Shop #1: The famous Sui Hing Hong Chinese Market. We bought some Chinese mint tea for R18 (~$2), and I discovered that they sell all varieties of traditional Tiger Balm (so there's no longer any need to get it sent from home!).

M feigning happiness at spending the morning on a shopping tour...

Along the way to shop #2, we made a quick stop to duck into a traditional medicine shop on the corner of Commissioners Street. While South Africa has adopted many western and/or modern medicine practices over the years, traditional healers (known as sangomas), continue to be an important part of local communities and cultures.

After the medicine shop, I purchased a case of mangos from a street vendor for R100 (for 10 mangos, so about $1 per massive, juicy mango). Not exactly a steal (they retail for roughly the same amount), but since mangos are just newly in season it's tough to find nice ripe ones in the shops. The vendor wasn't keen to sell me individual mangos, so I bought the whole case and sold half of them one-by-one to other participants on the tour...entrepreneurship at its finest! Note the guy photo-bombing this shot- he is the guy I bought the mangos from, and he came over on his own accord as though he wanted to be in the photo...

...except that once we was actually "in" the photo, he made this very serious expression...?

Shop #2: Fabric shopping at Minty's. This is one of the best place in the city to buy Shweshwe fabric (traditional South Africa fabric), and it's hidden in the basement of a generic-looking department store. I bought a couple of meters of four different colours/patterns for about R40 per metre (~$4). I'm not sure what they're destined for yet, but I couldn't resist.

LOVE all the colours and patterns. 

Sculpture of "the parents" of the nation- Walter and Albertina Sisulu, located at the end of Diagonal Street.

Shop #3 was the Kohinoor World of Music record shop- located in the basement of a furniture store. We didn't buy anything here, but if you're into perusing vinyls and shopping for vintage record paraphernalia, this is the place to go in Joburg. 

At the end of the tour we passed an outdoor "museum" of sorts on Fox Street; the city is in the process of restoring the Chancellor House (home of Nelson Mandela's old law office), and in the meantime there are displays through the windows on the ground floor. I love this shot M took with the reflection of the city, the "Shadow Boxer" statue (top left) and the tour group through the glass.

Pillars of virtue outside of the Chancellor House.