A few local businesses came together on Friday at the Paarl Civic Centre to showcase and sell their products as part of Drakenstein Municipality’s Fair Friday.
In this, the first Fair Trade area of South Africa, the municipality is creating an opportunity through Fair Fridays for local businesses to network and market their products, especially locally.
Since the end of 2021 Fair Fridays have taken place on the last Friday of every month, says Thembisile Mnisi of the municipality’s economic and tourism department.
“The (fair-trade) model we are pursuing is more within the context of Africa, originating practical solutions to issues locally,” he said. “One of these is emphasising SMMEs (small, medium and micro-enterprises), and markets such as this provide the space just to get one’s name out there.
“I think the support from the municipality means a lot. We offer our spaces such as the Arboretum, inside the building. Fair Fridays aim to bring small businesses that operate within the municipality in to trade and market themselves, and build their networks and customer bases. Businesses at Fair Fridays are also of specific kinds.”
The next Fair Fridays event will be a night market on 29 April at Victoria Park.
Small and medium-sized businesses that would like to promote their products on Fair Fridays can send an email to thembisile.mnisi@drakenstein.gov.za.
