Tasmi Quazi Asiye eTafuleni’s (AeT) work in the realm of inclusive urban planning and design was featured in Spark Newsletter (March 2013, Issue 7, pages 15 and 16). AeT’s work appeared under the theme “Public Participation”, including an excerpt on its Markets of Warwick community tourism project which received a Mayoral Award of Excellence in [...]
Warwick Junction’s Bovine Head Market featured in Open City Projects
Tasmi Quazi The final piece on the Markets of Warwick Junction written by Kristin Neudorf for Open City Projects features the Bovine Head Market. With her usual perceptive outlook, she writes: “Durban’s Bovine Head Market is a fascinating blend of old customs and modern urban design. As the name implies, the market’s entire existence revolves [...]
“Informal” Economy Contributions to the Functioning of the Economy
Tasmi Quazi A common myth is that the “formal” and “informal” economies are two distinct realities that function separately; economically and spatially. Although the distinction itself is riddled with a lack of clarity and contention, value chain analyses of specific sectors has shown that the two are linked. Moreover, there are many thriving spatial examples [...]
Staff Profile: Senior Project Officer
By Tasmi Quazi Patrick Ndlovu is the co-founder and Senior Project Officer of Asiye eTafuleni (AeT). Due to his extensive experience of working with informal workers, in Durban’s inner-city in particular, he is regarded as one of the most skilled social facilitators globally within the development domain of the informal economy. Below is a personal [...]
Staff Profile: Research Officer
Tasmi Quazi is the Research Officer of Asiye eTafuleni (AeT). She has a master’s degree in Development Studies, and a background in architecture and design, particularly community-based approaches. Her master’s thesis titled “Municipal Approaches to Incorporating the Informal Economy into the Urban Fabric: A Case Study of Msunduzi Local Municipality and Hibiscus Coast Municipality” has [...]
Global Waste Pickers’ Day: The Plea to Formal Businesses & Government for Support
Written by Tasmi Quazi, Photographs by Tasmi Quazi, Andile Ndlovu & Ntombizandile Krakra What was an ordinary start of the month for most, was a jubilant one for a group of inner-city recyclers of Durban, South Africa. To honour Global Waste Pickers’ Day (also called Global Recyclers’ Day) on the 1st of March, the Pine [...]
Mainstreaming the Significance of the Informal Economy through Tertiary Education
Written by Tasmi Quazi, Photographs by Tasmi Quazi & Phumzile Xulu Since its inception, Asiye eTafuleni (AeT) has engaged the interest of various tertiary institutions in learning about inclusive urban design and development with the informal economy. This interest however has deepened and intensified from 2013. Five different educational institutions, local and international, have bought [...]
The Emergent Importance of the Informal Economy through Secondary Education
Tasmi Quazi Last year’s national trial examination paper for Grade 12, 2012 (final year of High School) geography learners, contained an entire section worth of questions on the ‘informal sector’. The section was worth 28 marks out of the 100 marks allocated per question. An experienced educator’s aspiration is not only to broaden the minds [...]
The AeT Team Composition & Approach to Partnerships
By Tasmi Quazi The unique attribute of Asiye eTafuleni (AeT) within the “informal” economy sector is believed to be the deliberate integration of urban planning and design expertise coupled with comprehensive social facilitation services. The prioritisation of the grounded social facilitation seeks to place AeT at the intersection of rights based consciousness, responsive urban management [...]
Work Experience on the Streets with Goucher College
By Tasmi Quazi Last week, two Professors and eight students from Goucher College based in Baltimore, USA, spent two and a half days with Asiye eTafuleni (AeT). The visit to urban and rural grass roots organisations in South Africa was designed as part of experiential learning for a course in “Civil Society and Social Change”. [...]
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“Embrace the Warwick Junction Experience”
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AfriSam-South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) Sustainable Architecture Awards
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The Markets of Warwick School Tours
