The erection of 20 braai stands at popular beachfront hangout Ebuhlanti has not been warmly welcomed by the Ebuhlanti Association, which comprises the 60 traders who use the space to generate an income to support their families.
The women share braai drums, grids and other expenses like wood to make braai fires for weekend picnickers who regularly fill Marina Glen to capacity.
From the boots of cars come food, music, and drink.
Their meat is for the Ebuhlanti braai women to cook but the cooks say the new brick-built braai stands add no value, and are, in fact, a problem.
This will have Buffalo City Metro officials rethinking their project.
Ebuhlanti Association committee member Ntombiyakhe Madolo, who has been trading in the area for 10 years, said the association had never been consulted by the metro about the development.
“In the 10 years I have been here, nothing has been done about this place and we were excited about the municipality making braai stands.
“We didn’t think they’d be impractical for us to work with.
“They look cute and are made of bricks, but they are just too small and there are too few for the many people we have working here.”
“It would have been nice for them to consult us and find out from us what our needs are, just like they have done now, after building the small stands,” she said.
Madolo said on a good day, they often served two customers each at a time, while at the same time they made coal in another of the big drums they used.
“That’s not possible on the new stands.
“They are just impractical for anybody and you must remember that there’s a large influx of people coming through here, even schools that come on tour and they all want to braai,” she said.
Madolo said over the past two weeks the municipality had placed three skips (large metal waste containers) and about 10 smaller bins around the open area.
This week at the Orient Theatre, ward 47 councillor Vusumzi Njece said they would be rolling out better infrastructure for the traders and the public who make use of the venue.
“The association has expressed their concerns with us and we are now aware of what they need.
“We have a list of all of their names and, because they have a formal structure and are rolling up their sleeves to put food on the table for their respective families, we want to support them through our local economic development unit which we have been engaging with.
“We will be rebuilding the braaiing facilities, making them bigger to accommodate the traders, so two people can comfortably work on one stand at the same time and we also want to give them shelter for rainy and windy days, so their fire doesn’t go out or their meat get any dust,” he said.
“We are busy with the overall redesign of the recreational area and are currently installing a new fence around the perimeter, with plans to add more toilet facilities among our priorities,” Njece said.
Ebuhlanti braai women set BCM straight on ‘cute’ stands
The women share braai drums, grids and other expenses like wood to make braai fires for weekend picnickers who regularly fill Marina Glen to capacity.
From the boots of cars come food, music, and drink.
Their meat is for the Ebuhlanti braai women to cook but the cooks say the new brick-built braai stands add no value, and are, in fact, a problem.
This will have Buffalo City Metro officials rethinking their project.
Ebuhlanti Association committee member Ntombiyakhe Madolo, who has been trading in the area for 10 years, said the association had never been consulted by the metro about the development.
“In the 10 years I have been here, nothing has been done about this place and we were excited about the municipality making braai stands.
“We didn’t think they’d be impractical for us to work with.
“They look cute and are made of bricks, but they are just too small and there are too few for the many people we have working here.”
“It would have been nice for them to consult us and find out from us what our needs are, just like they have done now, after building the small stands,” she said.
Madolo said on a good day, they often served two customers each at a time, while at the same time they made coal in another of the big drums they used.
“That’s not possible on the new stands.
“They are just impractical for anybody and you must remember that there’s a large influx of people coming through here, even schools that come on tour and they all want to braai,” she said.
Madolo said over the past two weeks the municipality had placed three skips (large metal waste containers) and about 10 smaller bins around the open area.
This week at the Orient Theatre, ward 47 councillor Vusumzi Njece said they would be rolling out better infrastructure for the traders and the public who make use of the venue.
“The association has expressed their concerns with us and we are now aware of what they need.
“We have a list of all of their names and, because they have a formal structure and are rolling up their sleeves to put food on the table for their respective families, we want to support them through our local economic development unit which we have been engaging with.
“We will be rebuilding the braaiing facilities, making them bigger to accommodate the traders, so two people can comfortably work on one stand at the same time and we also want to give them shelter for rainy and windy days, so their fire doesn’t go out or their meat get any dust,” he said.
“We are busy with the overall redesign of the recreational area and are currently installing a new fence around the perimeter, with plans to add more toilet facilities among our priorities,” Njece said.
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