---
title: "Exploring the resourceful spirit of Atteridgeville’s ingenious street vendors"
description: "High levels of unemployment push many, especially youth, into entrepreneurship. Creativity and resilience fuel unique businesses like kasi cuisine pop-ups, local fashion brands, and digital services, and retail and services hubs. Townships have thriving local markets where goods and services are exchanged daily. Township residents often prefer buying locally, creating a circular local economy."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "PHOTO ESSAY"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-07-03-felix-township-economy/"
published: "2025-07-03T12:52:01"
updated: "2025-07-03T17:32:50"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 86
---

# Exploring the resourceful spirit of Atteridgeville’s ingenious street vendors

> High levels of unemployment push many, especially youth, into entrepreneurship. Creativity and resilience fuel unique businesses like kasi cuisine pop-ups, local fashion brands, and digital services, and retail and services hubs. Townships have thriving local markets where goods and services are exchanged daily. Township residents often prefer buying locally, creating a circular local economy.

Published 3 July 2025, 14:52 SAST · Updated 3 July 2025, 19:32 SAST

## Key points
- In the bustling streets of Attridgeville, Pretoria, where sewing, barbering, tire selling, and welding thrive alongside sizzling street food, it seems the entrepreneurial spirit is as vibrant as the local color—proving that necessity truly is the mother of invention, or at least a decent haircut.
- Vibrant street economy thrives in Attridgeville, Pretoria, with local entrepreneurs offering diverse services from sewing to welding.
- Makeshift barbershops and food vendors flourish, showcasing community resilience and resourcefulness.
- Thabang Lesufi's tire sales highlight the informal sector's role in meeting everyday needs.
- Vendors in Buhle Park, Johannesburg, contribute to the bustling local market scene, reinforcing the importance of small businesses.

## Content

![Obed Mthimkhulu offers sewing servics in Attridgeville Pretoria on 25 June 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/kU-FLREKveHoXETokw--iQOWi7c=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/067A7092.jpg)

*Obed Mthimkhulu offers sewing services in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, on 25 June 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)*

![A barber trims a customer's beared on a makshift shop in Attridgeville Pretoria. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/fGoqw-7l-mJNkNn_7tx6cXRZzws=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/067A7078.jpg)

*A barber cuts a customer's hair at a makeshift shop in Atteridgeville, Pretoria. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)*

![Thabang Lesufi sells tryes  along the road in Attridgeville Pretoria on 25 June 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/RzBZTEKBaEAUkjDrbN8i8nqvvZA=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/067A7144.jpg)

*Thabang Lesufi sells tyres along the road in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, on 25 June 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)*

![Welding services are offered on the streets in Attridgeville Pretoria on 25 June 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/_nUO4Q-YxxwnryhLKHC6CX4ztSs=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/067A7153-1.jpg)

*Welding services are offered on the streets in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, on 25 June 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)*

![Vendors prepare food near the Lucas Moripe stadium in Attridgeville Pretoria on 25 June 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/0rsGyMegqdP_s1l2YRn8yRMv2Ts=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/067A7174-2.jpg)

*Vendors prepare food near the Lucas Moripe Stadium. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)*

![MC-High Food](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/vE5-e4MvpCE1BejqRNkFctp8hXI=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-26-at-09.47.05-1-1.jpeg)

*Vendors selling vegetables in Buhle Park, Johannesburg. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)*