On Johannesburg’s streets, traders remain fiercely cash-first

On Johannesburg’s streets, traders remain fiercely cash-first

In Johannesburg’s inner city, street traders turn sidewalks into shopfronts. On one side, a woman chops inhloko (cow head), her knife striking with the rhythm of long practice. Down the way, a man is bundling fresh spinach into tight green bouquets, while a young man pushes a trolley of boxed mixed vegetables wobbling with each bump in the road. Beyond food and vegetables, second-hand clothes spill out of bales, and on the corner, pop-up salons …