Creative minds converge at market day in Naledi to connect
A market with a difference.
Ward 14’s first market which was held last month at Naledi Sports Complex provided a dynamic and divergent perspective of what a market usually is.
Towly’s Family Fun Day provided a fun-filled day which catered for the whole family. A fashion show was part of the day’s entertainment for the adults while children occupied themselves with jumping castles and face painting.
“It was the first market I have ever gone to where there were models and a fashion show. It’s become a requirement for a market I attend to have modelling now,” said Sbusiso Ndaba, a patron who attended the market.
There were many stalls selling various items such as clothes, food, children’s toys, a spa and accessories to mention a few.
“This was our first market so we experienced quite a few challenges, one of them was that the people who were supposed to have stalls didn’t pitch for their own reasons but the most important thing is that people had fun,” Tholakele Mnyoni, one of the event organisers said.
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The market also provided a platform for upcoming Soweto artists to showcase their talents to about 200 people in attendance.
The highlights of the afternoon were performances from McNido Charles, Under Construction and Ngoja Productions according to event organiser, Lebogang Ikaneng.
Mnyoni and Ikaneng plan on hosting the market on a quarterly basis with the help of local government.
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“We’re going to support them [Mnyoni and Ikaneng] and help them with the organisation of the event. We’ll include the councillor and ward committee members as well because they are part and parcel of the community as well,” said Martha Lekgole, a community development official.
Lekgole further urges community members to approach local government with their ideas so they can be assisted and forge relations with the relevant stakeholders.
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“It’s important for people to know who they can go to when they need to do something in the community. That’s why they need to attend public meetings so they know who their councillor and other officials are,” Lekgole continued.
The theme for the next market has already been decided on and it’s already in the planning stages.
“The theme for the next market is a family reunion. We’re going to have board games like Monopoly, we want to promote a sense of family and bonding. These are things we don’t really do anymore because we just don’t have time,” Ikaneng said.
