The Living History of Cape Town’s Adderley Street Flower Market

We’re heading to a flower market. But this isn’t just any flower market:

It’s a central part of the city’s heritage.

The Women of Adderley Street Flower Market

There have been flower sellers along Adderley street for centuries. I’m the fourth generation of my family who has been coming to this very spot to buy blooms.

Now of course the flowers at a market like this are beautiful. Showcasing the bright colours and biodiversity that this regions flower producers offer. But the stars of the show are the flower sellers themselves. These stalls are mostly small-scale, female-owned businesses that have been passed down through generations.

Not only are they experts in their field, but these famous personalities really make this section of the city what it is today. From singing and joking with pedestrians passing by, these women are a common point of interaction for everyone in the city, wether you’re in mourning, celebrating a new birth, proposing or honouring an anniversary — these are the women we all come to for all of it.

Fadwah’s Flowers

I caught up with Fadwah Sasman at her flower store to hear more about how these women and their trade have become such an integral part of the city centre. She told us a little about her previous job as a dental assistant, and how she decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a flower-seller instead.

Fadwah: I saw my mommy meet different types of people, all the facesthe smile she put on their faces with the flowers. I love that. I enjoy what I do and I like to to satisfy my clients, giving them what I like.

Fadwah helped me build a bouquet typical of Cape Town — including the iconic king protea, South Africa’s national flower, Irish Bells, Cabbage Roses, and Arum lilies.

If you’d like Fadwah to build a bouquet for you, you can contact her at fadwasasman@gmail.com

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The women who work alongside Fadwah at the market are also often of Cape Malay descent and so we’ll often speak Afrikaans to one another — a dutch-like language which is argued to have originated in or at the very least strongly influenced by the Cape Malay community and their Arabic roots. Because many of these sellers practice Islam, visiting them is an opportunity to brush up on my Arabic.

A prime example of the beautiful complexities of Cape Town’s language and culture, demonstrating itself on the streets.

Final thoughts:

The Adderley Street Flower Market is more than a place to buy blooms — it’s a living thread in Cape Town’s cultural fabric, woven with stories, laughter, and generations of skill. Each bouquet reflects not only the region’s botanical beauty, but also the history of the women who have shaped this space, the languages that mingle across the stalls, and the shared moments that have unfolded here for centuries.

In a city that’s constantly evolving, the market endures as a reminder that heritage lives not only in archives or monuments, but in the everyday exchanges that keep traditions alive.

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