Trolley Works Exhibition!

Here is a selection of Christo Doherty's pictures from our exhibition opening on Friday night.




Cigarette Paper Diaries Rear View



Fashin MC's Erik and Andrew causing havoc



Andrew on the street soliciting people to come inside



Gilbert the Zambuch salesman.



Trolley Protest installation: Confiscated trolleys and
trolley protest video monitor and projection.

Trolley Works Multi-Disciplinary Exhibition

The Abyssinia Coffee Tour

A guided trolley pusher tour of Joubert Park and the Fashion District:

Trolley Works guided city tours celebrate the vibrancy, informality and cultural diversity present in down town Johannesburg. Tours begin in Joubert Park at the Drill Hall, an important historical landmark in our country’s history, and winds its way along the sidewalks between Noord and Park City taxi ranks. One can expect to see ‘bad buildings’, street markets and meander through dense pedestrian traffic; hear the beat of wedding songs, fashion diva’s and Africa’s rhythm; smell the aromas of Mozambican stew, braaied kebabs and fast food.

An astonishing amount of money is exchanged in this area daily through innovative informal business practices. A key feature of Joubert Park is the high density of people and traffic. Our tour highlights the challenges for a rapidly urbanizing African City. We hope to expose people to the urban contradictions present in the city and are attempting to address the need to walk in the downtown area of Johannesburg. Walking in Johannesburg is strongly linked to class, race, crime, fear and paranoia. The proposed tours attempt to address these challenges, whilst getting people thinking and contributing to a conversation related to the politics of public space in the city.

Trolley Works is a multi-disciplinary art project dedicated to the acknowledgment of the informal economic activities and cultural diversity present in our city. Come meet our team, have a laugh, walk the streets and experience the best coffee in the world.

Booking a tour

Tours run Monday to Saturday at 10h30 and again at 14h00

Tour duration: 2 hours

Price: R150 per person (Students and pensioners pay R100), contact us for special group tour prices – Prices include freshly made Ethiopian coffee.

Where: Drill Hall (Corner Twist and Plein Streets)

Call: 0725944263

Email: tours@trolleyworks.net

Parking: Safe parking at the Drill Hall

Loitering Workshop - Drill Hall 16th May 2009

The Trolley Works Team in conjunction with the Africa Diaspora Forum are hosting a workshop dealing with the issue of 'loitering'. The team have been handing out flyers on the sidewalk, and empowering people about their rights.

Workshop Details:

When: Saturday 16th May 2009, 10:30am
Where: Drill Hall (Corner Twist and Plein Streets)
Contact: AFRICAN DIASPORA FORUM for free support (011.633.21.40)

All Welcome!!

What to do in case you are arrested for Loitering:
(Produced by the African Diaspora Forum)

1) If possible, take note of the POLICE CAR NUMBER (for instance HB07, Hillbrow car number 7), if you are not able to take note of the police officer’s name.

2) If arrested, ask for a NOTICE OF RIGHTS at the police station (it is compulsory for the police to give notice and explain why you are arrested).

3) Ask for a RECEIPT if you pay the fee to the police, or ADMISSION OF GUILT if you are not able to.

4) After your release, you can contact the AFRICAN DIASPORA FORUM for free support (011.633.21.40).

Loitering crap

If you are poor and black and happen to be on a sidewalk in downtown Joburg, there is a strong chance that you may have been arrested for loitering. In the past 2 months, the police have intensified their enforcement and have exclusively targeted poor black people, mainly street vendors and trolley pushers.

By virtue of its definition, loitering means standing around without intent. The people who are being arrested are entrepreneurial. People are being arrested for standing, walking, talking, sitting, selling, waiting...for being poor and black.

A feature of the enforcement campaign has been excessive bribery and corruption by the police officers. The price to be released on the street is R100. Recently both Hansa Monsaka and Keith Busani were arrested for loitering. Hansa was left handcuffed against a fence for most of the day as police waited to extract a bribe from him.



Much of the police activity has intensified with the onset of the BRT construction work downtown. There seems to be a coordinated effort by the city, to upgrade the road infrastructure as well as 'clean' the sidewalks of undesirable people - People who are not considered part of the vision for the regenerated city.

Advertise Here!!

We have just deployed our exciting new cartage trolleys. Our trolley factory is capable of producing 5 trolleys per week. Our goal is to produce 130 trolleys, and to date we have built 9 new trolleys.

We could really use your help to build more. Sponsor a trolley and get your brand seen on the streets of Joburg. At a cost of only R1200, you can sponsor the construction of a cartage trolley, and help legitimize a livelihood for a trolley pusher.

Please contact us for further advertising info. Just drop us an email, and we will get back to you asap:

admin@trolleyworks.net

Trolley Works Research Project

Our beautiful research trolleys have finally been deployed and the team have begun the process of land use mapping in Joubert Park and the Fashion District. The objectives of the research project are to develop a comprehensive profile of the economic activities in Joubert Park and the Fashion District.

By mapping the relationship between economic activities and cultural identity, the project aims to bring about awareness to the potential role of migrant controlled business as contributing towards the economic and cultural regeneration of the inner-city of Johannesburg.