DURBAN, south africa // For nearly a century, fruit and vegetables have been sold at Durban's Early Morning Market.
Its metal structure is a listed as a heritage building, and under its corrugated roof, hundreds of stalls offer potatoes, tomatoes, onions and other produce in portions costing a mere five rand each - less than half the price of comparable supermarket goods, according to researchers.
But it is located on a prime trading site in the city centre's Warwick Triangle, next to a giant terminal for the minibus taxis that are the standard mode of public transport for South Africa's poor, as well as bus and train stations, and more than 400,000 commuters are estimated to pass it every day.
To the outrage of the traders, the Ethekwini municipality, which covers Durban and owns the site, has given them notice to quit at the end of this month to allow a shopping mall to be built. It is offering them an alternative site 300 metres away, but the traders claim that with virtually no passing trade there they will be condemned to bankruptcy.
Protest banners in the 99-year-old market bear such slogans as "Our market is here to stay, our market feeds us" and "Save the market, no forced removals", while the latest in a series of protest marches was held last week.
With the African National Congress, which controls the council, pledged to defend the interests of the poor, the move has prompted demonstrations, accusations of betrayal, and racism - Durban has a large Asian minority, the descendants of labourers brought in by British colonialists - and claims of questionable motives.
It is a microcosm of the controversies that face the ruling party nationwide as the heady days of liberation recede into history.
Four generations of Hoosen Ismail's family have worked in the market, which was reserved for Indian traders during apartheid. "I feel terrible," he said. "I started here at six years old running for my grandfather. Some people have been here for 60 years.
"I'm 39 and I'm getting kicked out of the market. I will be out; I will be unemployed. It's only greed."
Already those traders who cannot produce leases from the municipality have had their stalls shut down as it seeks to weaken resistance, even if, like Rose Dlamini, 41, they say they have been paying the council rent for nine years.
She has seven children of her own and also looks after four nephews and nieces, but her 23-year-old daughter "went to university because of this market", she said.
"Now I can't buy bread for my children. We don't want to move; I don't like how they treat us. They are supposed to talk to us. Who will shop in a mall? Only rich people. Where are our politicians now when we really need them to help?"
With race still an overarching issue in South Africa, claims have been made that Indian traders are taking advantage of blacks, who now make up many of the stallholders, but Mrs Dlamini denied that was the case.
"There are no problems; we stand together as one," she said.
Most symbolically of all, in recent months the traders have been obliged to prove their identity to inspectors, sometimes more than once a day, to demonstrate that they are entitled to their pitches.
The policy has echoes of the "pass laws" of apartheid, when blacks had to have a "pass" stating their purpose to be allowed into white areas. Since the advent of democracy 15 years ago, South Africans have not been obliged to carry such identification documents.
The fact that an ANC authority has adopted such a tactic disturbed Million Phehlukwayo, deputy chairman of the Early Morning Market Association, who is also black, said: "It's very bad; that's very ridiculous to my understanding. It's the same old apartheid ... they brought it back."
He blames individuals, rather than the party as a whole, but added: "Today the ANC is keeping quiet. I don't think they care about what's happening."
The council said the mall project, worth 400million rand (Dh182m), was driven by a desire to improve the area for the community as a whole.
"We are doing this for commuters," said Philip Sithole, head of its business support and markets unit. "The benefit is that commuters and the public will have services that they didn't have before. There will be less crime. As far as we are concerned no one is going to lose from this project."
The identity checks could not be compared to apartheid and were purely to ensure that traders were legitimate, he said, and he denied making race an issue: "Some of the traders - I won't say Indian traders - are exploiting other traders."
But the municipality's insistence that the mall goes ahead despite the opposition has raised suspicions among some observers that other interests are at play, even though nothing can be proved.
"This is partly about big capital winning over small traders," said Caroline Skinner, urban policy programme co-ordinator for Wiego, a Harvard University-based research network, who has carried out studies in the area over the past 10 years.
"Apartheid declared people they didn't want in the city as illegal and that's essentially what the city council has done here.
"The city has chosen to racialise things. Given the history of racial dynamics in this city it's an incredibly dangerous thing to do. It's very depressing."
sberger@thenational.ae
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
RESULTS
Time; race; prize; distance
4pm: Maiden; (D) Dh150,000; 1,200m
Winner: General Line, Xavier Ziani (jockey), Omar Daraj (trainer)
4.35pm: Maiden (T); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Travis County, Adrie de Vries, Ismail Mohammed
5.10pm: Handicap (D); Dh175,000; 1,200m
Winner: Scrutineer, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
5.45pm: Maiden (D); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Yulong Warrior, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
6.20pm: Maiden (D); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Ejaaby, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson
6.55pm: Handicap (D); Dh160,000; 1,600m
Winner: Storyboard, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap (D); Dh150,000; 2,200m
Winner: Grand Dauphin, Gerald Mosse, Ahmed Al Shemaili
8.05pm: Handicap (T); Dh190,000; 1,800m
Winner: Good Trip, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Red Sparrow
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Egerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons
Three stars
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULT
Manchester United 2 Burnley 2
Man United: Lingard (53', 90' 1)
Burnley: Barnes (3'), Defour (36')
Man of the Match: Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
Stage 3 results
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 4:42:33
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:03
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:30
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:56
General Classification after Stage 3:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 12:30:02
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:35
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:40
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Wilco Kelderman (NED) Team Sunweb) 0:02:06
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court (4pm UAE/12pm GMT)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v Heather Watson (GBR)
Rafael Nadal (ESP x4) v Karen Khachanov (RUS x30)
Andy Murray (GBR x1) v Fabio Fognini (ITA x28)
Court 1 (4pm UAE)
Steve Johnson (USA x26) v Marin Cilic (CRO x7)
Johanna Konta (GBR x6) v Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Naomi Osaka (JPN) v Venus Williams (USA x10)
Court 2 (2.30pm UAE)
Aljaz Bedene (GBR) v Gilles Muller (LUX x16)
Peng Shuai (CHN) v Simona Halep (ROM x2)
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x13) v Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x12) v Sam Querrey (USA x24)
Court 3 (2.30pm UAE)
Kei Nishikori (JPN x9) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x18)
Carina Witthoeft (GER) v Elina Svitolina (UKR x4)
Court 12 (2.30pm UAE)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x8) v Ana Konjuh (CRO x27)
Kevin Anderson (RSA) v Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)
Court 18 (2.30pm UAE)
Caroline Garcia (FRA x21) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Benoit Paire (FRA) v Jerzy Janowicz (POL)
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Abu Dhabi race card
5pm Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
5.30pm Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
6pm Abu Dhabi Championship Listed | Dh180,000 | 1,600m
6.30pm Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,400m
7.30pm Handicap (TB) |Dh100,000 | 2,400m
Opening Rugby Championship fixtures: Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)
Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Afghanistan squad
Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
