BEFORE FOREIGN SPAZA SHOPS TOOK OVER, BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS HAD ALREADY BUILT THIER OWN ECONOMIES
![Two distinct images of Peddie Town in the 1980's, captured wth a 35mm [Image: Supplied to GSMN]](https://gsmn.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/WhatsApp-Image-2026-06-01-at-19.46.27-1.jpeg)
South Africa’s current debate about immigration, foreign-owned spaza shops, and collapsing township economies suffers from a serious problem: collective amnesia. A growing number of people speak as though black South Africans only entered commerce after democracy — or worse, as though township trade only became organised after foreign shop networks emerged across rural villages and […]
GUARDIAN OF A NATION’S VOICE: LEBO M AND THE PRESERVATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN HERITAGE
Lebo M’s story is a microcosm of how a global cultural architect outpaced formal diplomacy, and in addition, why post-apartheid South Africa is duty-bound to tell its story with the accuracy of a sniper, and remain in charge of the narrative. From the dusty streets of Soweto to the illustrious stages of Minskoff Theatre in […]