I have recently joined the Paarl Flea Market as an informal trader trying to make use of the opportunity to trade freely without taxation restrictions. The Flea Market operates every Saturday morning from Patriot Singel.
I am shocked at the urban decay and neglect I see in this area. It was polished last year for movie shoots, but now it’s just fallen back to rack and ruin.
It is high time we started sweeping in front of our own doors. Something like this creates a negative feeling about the surroundings one trades in.
People who walk past get the impression nobody cares. It creates a defeatist atmosphere. Surely one feels good about one’s surroundings when it is uplifting. This works both ways and creates a win-win situation.
The public toilet facility is a huge problem. Many traders avoid it because it is a health risk and filthy. Nobody seems to care and nobody ever cleans the toilets. Surely this is not good enough for a town that constantly gets recognition and praise for its governance?
I don’t want to compare apples with pears, but after visiting towns such as Franschhoek, Stellenbosch and Hermanus, one gets a feel-good feeling when visiting them, as positive attempts are made to make these towns pleasant and uplifting for visitors and residents alike. One then realises how far Paarl is behind in this respect.
Our neighbours at Val de Vie and Pearl Valley have landscaped gardens and hands-on maintenance and care. Yet when one enters the centre of Paarl one gets a sinking feeling, one that nobody cares and nobody complains.
Surely this is still Paarl, beautiful town of the Winelands, not one fragmented into South, North and East, and private estates.
Its people deserve better. They deserve to be able to trade and shop in a clean, uplifting environment. Ours is such a beautiful town, which deserves a designated trading area where people can do business in a clean environment, uplifting its people and creating a win-win situation.
Surely there is a solution to these problems, and stakeholders should enter into dialogue about the way forward so people who visit Paarl can have an unforgettable experience?
Moreover, the people of Paarl would walk with pride in their beautiful town and talk proudly about it.
There are not first- and third-class citizens, but residents who share this place and want the best for it. We look forward to a new year of urban renewal and transformation, not doing things over and over again for years, but instead thinking out of the box.
