After slavery was abolished in the Cape in 1838, many freed people struggled to find work and a decent income. This was a common problem worldwide for former enslaved people in colonial times. In Cape Town, people sought refuge in street vending, including selling flowers. These were mainly women from Constantia and Protea Village. For more than a century, they sold herbs and all kinds of flowers, from fynbos to exotic species. Their marketplace was located on the same spot where the Company Garden was started in April 1652. The former Commercial Exchange stood across Parliament Street and housed the Cape of Good Hope Philanthropic Society which aimed to “help deserving slaves and slave children buy their freedom” (see No. 33). Founded in 1828, this association aimed to end slavery and sought to transition from a slavery-based to a free society on the Cape.

Sources

• Boehi, Melanie. (2022). Arrangements for an African Anthropocene: Multispecies Storytelling at the Adderley Street Flower Market in Cape Town, in Multispecies Storytelling in Intermedial Practices edited by Ida Bencke and Jørgen Bruhn. Santa Barbara: Punctum. 151-173.