Support a vendor this winter
June 20, 2022
Love your local vendor
August 23, 2022
Support our Vendors
IMAGES AND SOURCE: TSEPHISO NHEMACHENA
SUPPORT OUR BIG ISSUE VENDORS
The Big Issue is South Africa’s number one magazine and social enterprise, creating opportunities to end poverty and exclusion. Our vendors are those people who’ve taken steps to help themselves. The Big Issue can be purchased from vendors in the suburbs of Cape Town, or from select Spar or Pick n Pay stores nationally.
To donate a wish list item to our vendors, email placements@bigissue.org.za
Vendor: Bongani Pholo
Number: 1280
Find her at: Long Beach Mall, Fish Hoek
About: 37-year-old Bongani lives in Khayelitsha with his wife and two children, aged two and 18. He began selling The Big Issue in 2003, but even though he enjoys selling the magazine, he says that getting buyers is becoming increasingly difficult because he is getting fewer customers by the day.
Vendor: Solomon Masoso
Number: 1909
Find him at: Long Beach Mall, Fish Hoek
About: Solomon, who lives in Masiphumelele, Fish Hoek, has been selling The Big Issue since 2012. He studied agriculture and business management at Living Hope community health centre for two years. He has been applying the skills that he learnt there to his small business of making beaded art, where he makes a variety of beaded animals that he also sells alongside the magazine at his pitch. He also enjoys the art sessions offered at The Big Issue. Hopes and dreams: To rent a shop in Long Beach Mall where he can display and sell his art.
Wish list: Solomon has a passion for nursing and would like to attend classes to qualify in this profession. He also needs money to buy beads and wire for his art because it’s becoming increasingly expensive for him to do so. He appreciates continued support from his Big Issue customers but the pandemic has severely affected his sales.
