MAI MAI market in the city – a fascinating place
In search of traditional Swazi and Zulu dancing props, Sisiwami and Portia swung past the buzzing Noord Street taxi rank on a mission to find the downtown Sangoma market “under the highway”. Officially known as the MAI MAI market, it is a fascinating hub of rural wisdom and spiritual ways, the prices are higher than we expected but walk around a bit before you buy and if you’re up for it,…
remember to negotiate! It’s well worth a visit!
MAI MAI MARKET
Corner Anderson & Berea
Joburg City
Thanks to the City of Johannesburg website for the full info as alwasys – click here for the full article:
“It is the oldest market in Joburg – dedicated to traditional healing. Apart perhaps, from the Faraday market, no other complex can boast such a rich concentration of traditional herbs and healers. The sickly of the city flock here to have their ills, physical and spiritual, divined and treated by traditional healers.
But, following years of neglect, the Mai Mai bazaar began to generate. Now moves are underway to restore the market to its pristine beauty and promote it as a prime tourist destination in the city. The market has now been brought under the management of the Metropolitan Trading Company, a council-owned company dedicated to the construction and maintenance of markets throughout the city, and already, signs of improvement are beginning to show.
Dubbed “Ezinyangeni” – the place of healers, the Mai Mai is nestled on the eastern wing of the city centre. Jabu Vilakazi, manager of the market, describes it as “Afrocentric”, catering for indigenous needs and practices, and indeed, it is here that some spiritual and cultural elements of indigenous knowledge have been reworked and preserved.
Many consider it to be the “muti” (traditional medicine) capital of Johannesburg, with most of its 176 units dedicated to traditional healing. Mai Mai is also home to some 600 people, many of whom have lived in the complex for decades, evolving into a close-knit and self-contained community. Dance competitions featuring dancing troupes from hostels across the city are a regular feature of the complex.
“What sets the Mai Mai apart is its unique product, the presence of an established community in the premises and of course, its cultural richness,” says Nhlanhla Ndovela, of the Metropolitan Trading Company.
Tourists fascinated by its exotic offerings stream to the market. “They come here to buy traditional artefacts, including Zulu attire, clothes made from animal skins and feathers, walking sticks, knobkerries, shields, sandals, beaded items. Some also visit the place to have their ills diagnosed,” says young shop assistant Nkosinathi Mkhwanazi, who mans perhaps the biggest and most elaborate of the muti stalls in the market.
As you approach his shop in the complex, you are greeted by various animal parts hanged to dry on the verandah. This is not biltong, but medicine reputed to cure various ills. The medicine, according to Mkhwanazi, that is capable of getting a patient acquitted from a serious legal case, or stave off bad luck, nightmares and make a patient generally popular with the people that surround him or her.
“You prepare this by first burning then grinding it,” explains Mkhwanazi, pointing at the remains of a porcupine which he says “mixed with the right choice of herbs and grinded tree bucks, renders you invincible before your enemies. You become strong and immune to bad spells and general misfortunes.” The presence of coffins in the store just opposite, where they are manufactured, lends an eerie feel to the place.”
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