Sellers at Adderley Street Flower Market push back against new permit fees
Alison Snyders, who has spent 45 years at the Adderley Street Flower Market, says sellers want upgrades, but not at the cost of their heritage.
Image: Murray Swart/ Cape Argus
Cape Town’s iconic Adderley Street Flower Market is facing a growing standoff, as long-standing sellers push back against a City plan to introduce permits and fees.
For Alison Snyders, who has traded at the market for 45 years, the label itself is the issue.
“The City wants to classify us as informal traders and we are not informal traders,” she said. “We are part of the city’s heritage because the market is more than 150 years old.”
Buckets of fresh blooms line the Adderley Street Flower Market, a Cape Town landmark shaped by generations of sellers.
Image: Murray Swart/ Cape Argus
“I started when flowers were just R1 per bunch,” she added.
The City of Cape Town’s Economic Growth Directorate has concluded public participation on a draft trading plan for the Trafalgar Place Flower Market, aimed at bringing the site in line with formal trading systems used across the CBD.
The City said the market currently operates without a formal trading plan, and incorporating it into a regulated system would provide security of tenure for long-standing sellers while improving trading conditions. The City said the same permit system applies across other CBD trading areas.
Traders at the historic flower market continue a tradition dating back more than a century in the heart of the CBD.
Image: Murray Swart/ Cape Argus
Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, James Vos, said the plan is intended to “provide security of tenure for long-standing flower sellers” while investing in upgrades to create a “dignified and iconic market”.
But on the ground, traders say the plan raises more questions than answers.
“We’ve never had to pay a fee for standing here or anything,” Snyders said. “I don’t know what they are going to do now.”
The Adderley Street Flower Market remains a vibrant, living piece of Cape Town’s heritage.
Image: Murray Swart/ Cape Argus
She said the trade has been passed down through generations, forming part of a long-standing understanding among sellers about their place at the market.
The Adderley Street Flower Market traces its origins to the late 19th century, when flower selling began along the pavement. Over time, the activity shifted into Trafalgar Place, where it remains today.
“This business has been passed on from generation to generation,” she said. “Our people told us that this market has been given to the flower sellers. We are not supposed to pay any rent.”
Rows of flowers fill Trafalgar Place, where sellers have traded through decades of change in the city centre.
Image: Murray Swart/ Cape Argus
Snyders said this understanding is linked, in traders’ accounts, to Bishop Thomas Lightfoot, and that the City’s role was historically seen as maintaining the space.
“Yes, it was run by the City back then when there was a person who would come here to see that everything was in order and the place was clean,” she said.
The City maintains that formalising the market will help ensure fair allocation of trading bays, prevent overcrowding and support traders into the future.
Despite ageing infrastructure, the flower market continues to draw customers and keep a long-standing tradition alive.
Image: Murray Swart/ Cape Argus
Proposed upgrades include 20 secure stalls with storage, a new canopy to replace the damaged roof, improved walkways and drainage, better lighting and sanitation, and a formal loading area.
Snyders agrees improvements are needed.
“The roof is leaking and it gets very hot. We’ve got slippery tiles and there are a lot of issues with maintenance,” she said.
However, she said traders have not agreed to the details.
Flower sellers carry on a generations-old trade at Trafalgar Place in Cape Town’s CBD.
Image: Murray Swart
“We did have a few meetings with the City and they showed us a few plans,” she said. “But we didn’t agree to anything until they have come here to show us exactly how big our space for each stall is going to be.”
She said traders want clearer engagement before any final decisions are taken.
“We are the people who know best what works for us and what doesn’t,” she said.
Parking for customers remains another concern.
“The main thing we want is parking for our customers,” she said.
Bright blooms at the Adderley Street Flower Market, where tradition meets daily trade.
Image: Murray Swart/ Cape Argus
The City said feedback from traders, including calls for longer trading hours and more stalls, is being considered as the plan is refined before being submitted to council. If approved, implementation will be phased in gradually.
The public participation process commenced in early February, a matter of weeks after mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis led a walkthrough of the Golden Acre to highlight advances in commuter safety, access and inner-city redevelopment at one of the city’s busiest transport hubs.
For Snyders, who has spent nearly half a century at the market, the uncertainty is difficult.
“We have been here for ages, upholding this market over the years, come rain and shine,” she said.
“This is where I started. We want to see it improve, but not at the cost of what this place is.”