Bulk buyers and hawkers went home empty-handed on Tuesday when they found the municipal-owned Pietermaritzburg Fresh Produce Market, in Mkondeni, closed due to Covid-19.
City spokesperson, Thobeka Mafumbatha, said the market was closed for sanitisation and deep cleaning following confirmation of two cases of Covid-19, but it would be opened on Wednesday. Only the sales section was closed but the market continued receiving fresh produce from farmers in a different part of the facility.
Some of the bulk buyers and hawkers who were turned away on Tuesday had travelled from as far as Hammarsdale, Crammond and Richmond to get fruit and vegetables for their businesses. Most of them were annoyed that the municipality had not informed them on Monday that the market would be closed.
