Sheona E. Shackleton and Charlie M. Shackleton 219Photo 2. Local conservation authorities provide support to informal woodcraft
markets (Photo by S.E. Shackleton)The main markets for carvers in 1993 were craft shops located in and
around six main towns of the tourist region: Hazyview, White River, Nelspruit,
Sabie, Graskop and Pilgrim’s Rest (Figure 1). While these markets are still
important, a number of informal markets have emerged in the last 10 years
following the relaxation of informal trading by-laws, which now serve as main
outlets for carvers. Curio shops have instead moved towards stocking imported
African goods. Steenkamp (1999b) found that, on average, there were more
imported goods (55%) than local products (43%) in these shops. Of the local
products, approximately 32% were produced by local factories, 10% by carver-
vendors and only 5% by home carvers.
Some of the informal markets have further developed through interventions
from government, primarily the Mpumalanga Department of Finance, and
parastatal agencies such as the Mpumalanga Parks Board and South African
Forestry Company. Support has included the provision of permanent cover,
individual stalls, car parks and water and ablution facilities, creating a much
safer environment for both traders and tourists. The markets are located along
main tourist routes, the primary vending areas being Panorama Gorge, God’s
Window and Natural Bridge near Graskop, and MacMac Falls and Long Tom’s
Pass near Sabie (Figure 1). Committees oversee the management of the
markets, and most have codes of conduct that traders must adhere to. Vendors
usually pay a small fee (R5–R25 per month) for their stall. Tensions, conflicts
and even factionalism between traders who operated in the area prior to the
markets being formalised and new traders or those seeking places have occurred
in some markets.12SAwoodcarving.p65 219 22/12/2004, 11:05