Limpopo Premier Dr. Phophi Ramathuba hosted a special luncheon with women (Local Traders) from Tshakhuma at the well-known Tshakhuma Fruit Markets along the busy R524 Punda Maria road, Makhado Local Municipality, on Tuesday 22 September 2026. <\/p>\n
The luncheon was the 7th Administration way of saying they see local traders, they honor them and stand with them as provincial government.
\nShe described the market\u2019s story as a masterclass in endurance, noting that it was established around 1968, when traders used old shillings and 25-cent pieces. <\/p>\n
Dr. Ramathuba evoked that mothers risked their lives as the Transvaal Provincial Administration routinely chased them away during the Apartheid era, yet they refused to bow down.<\/p>\n
Premier Ramathuba has called on passerby\u2019s and residents to support the local traders by purchasing their fruits and vegetables for them to maintain the small businesses. <\/p>\n
She also expressed concerns about how customers treat hard working mothers at the markets by taking advantage of their kindness and desperations to put food on the table. <\/p>\n
Dr. Ramathuba stressed that people buy from local traders by demanding discounts, known as \u201cbasela\u201d, yet they pay full price without questions at big supermarkets such as Shoprite, Pick n Pay and Boxer as well as other well known franchise restaurants. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis must stop! We must respect, support and value the dignity of our mothers who toil through freezing winters and scorching summers. The way we treat Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Boxers, Spar and all these big restaurant franchises must be the same way we treat our local traders. Let us support them without negotiating for discounts and if they give us any discount, it must be out of their own free will.\u201d Dr. Ramathuba lamented <\/p>\n
As a symbol of support, Dr. Ramathuba extended her hand by donating an amount of R50 000 to the women trading at Tshakhuma Fruit Markets to make up a day\u2019s profit for Tuesday due to her visit which saw them leaving their daily commitment to have lunch with the Premier.
\nFurthermore, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio station, Phalaphala FM, also emulated Premier Ramathuba\u2019s helping hand by adding R50 000 as a donation. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Tshakhuma Fruit Markets, Ms. Masindi Mudau, stressed that local traders are experiencing financial constraints when they purchase their stock from local farms. <\/p>\n
Mudau said stock prices keep skyrocketing and they spend more on fuel as well when traveling to far villages to get cheaper stocks.
\nShe further requested Premier Dr. Ramathuba to request financial assistance on their behalf from the National Minister of Small Businesses, Ms. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams. <\/p>\n
Premier Dr. Ramathuba vowed to treat the request to Ndabeni-Abrahams as a matter of urgency. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Limpopo Premier Dr. Phophi Ramathuba hosted a special luncheon with women (Local Traders) from Tshakhuma at the well-known Tshakhuma Fruit Markets along the busy R524 Punda Maria road, Makhado Local Municipality, on Tuesday 22 September 2026. The luncheon was the 7th Administration way of saying they see local traders, they honor them and stand with them as provincial government. She described the market\u2019s story as a masterclass in endurance, noting that it was established around 1968, when traders used old shillings and 25-cent pieces. Dr. Ramathuba evoked that mothers risked their lives as the Transvaal Provincial Administration routinely chased them\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":4}},"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","bsk-pdf-dashboard-list-thumbnail":""},"post_excerpt_stackable":"
Limpopo Premier Dr. Phophi Ramathuba hosted a special luncheon with women (Local Traders) from Tshakhuma at the well-known Tshakhuma Fruit Markets along the busy R524 Punda Maria road, Makhado Local Municipality, on Tuesday 22 September 2026. The luncheon was the 7th Administration way of saying they see local traders, they honor them and stand with them as provincial government. She described the market\u2019s story as a masterclass in endurance, noting that it was established around 1968, when traders used old shillings and 25-cent pieces. Dr. Ramathuba evoked that mothers risked their lives as the Transvaal Provincial Administration routinely chased them…<\/p>\n","category_list":"News<\/a>","author_info":{"name":"Maano Nekhavhambe","url":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/?author=7"},"comments_num":"0 comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9581,"href":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9580\/revisions\/9581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.limpopo.gov.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}