Op-Ed: Who Gets to Thrift When Secondhand Gets Expensive?

Op-Ed: Who Gets to Thrift When Secondhand Gets Expensive?

“Hello Jeanie borgat, hello Jeanie borgat, sale ngapha!” The chant — part English, part street slang, part isiZulu — cuts through the other city soundscapes on De Villiers Street, the busy strip running from Johannesburg’s Park Station to the MTN Taxi Rank. Vendors use it to lure customers (“Jeanie” is a playful way of saying “jeans,” “borgat” is South African slang for denim, and “ngapha” means “this side” in isiZulu).Every inch of the sidewalk…