The Grassroute

The Grassroute The Grassroute is a South African store that provides an online platform for unsuspecting artisans to connect with a greater audience.

The man beading wire flowers on the side of the road. The car guard designing jewelry in his spare time. The artist with no hands who still sketches. This is where our story began. We kept stumbling across these regular individuals with creative skill, passion for their work,meagre materials and no access to a market who were producing art to survive. The Grassroute was born as a South African sto

re providing an online platform for unsuspecting artisans like these to connect with a greater audience, develop their craft, better their lives and to share their untold stories.

We were inspired by the Fees Must Fall Protests and the brave, young South Africans, that took to the streets to demand ...
05/11/2015

We were inspired by the Fees Must Fall Protests and the brave, young South Africans, that took to the streets to demand not only accessible education and improved working conditions but a better, more promising future for us all. We wanted a tee that that symbolised our incredible legacy and history and the continuing struggle.
Cue the 1976 fitted grey tee. We made a few for ourselves and we thought we'd make a few for you too. 10% of proceeds will be donated to Equal Education. Up on thegrassroute.com now

Ubuntu Bags, now up on the website!These locally made Ubuntu Pencil Bags are each accompanied by one of Philani’s ‘I am ...
02/04/2015

Ubuntu Bags, now up on the website!

These locally made Ubuntu Pencil Bags are each accompanied by one of Philani’s ‘I am because you are’ tags on the zipper. The bags are embroidered with black ‘ubuntu’ text and are lined with beautiful shweshwe fabric.

Ubuntu Dolls, now up on the website!Each Ubuntu Doll is handmade by one of six Gogos from the Valley of 1000 Hills. Ever...
01/04/2015

Ubuntu Dolls, now up on the website!

Each Ubuntu Doll is handmade by one of six Gogos from the Valley of 1000 Hills. Every Ubuntu Doll is then given a unique name by the Gogo who makes it and the doll's name is then printed and attached to the Doll by Dawn and her team at the 1000 Hills Community Helpers Centre. Each Doll comes in a cotton gift bag from The Grassroute and is accompanied with an information card on the artisans behind them. Read more about the Gogos here: http://thegrassroute.com/doll-post

Please note this product starts shipping on: Tuesday, 7 April

There have been so many gremlins we almost called it April Fools' and went back to bed but the wonderful people behind t...
01/04/2015

There have been so many gremlins we almost called it April Fools' and went back to bed but the wonderful people behind the scenes have managed to get the site up and running.

If you encounter any problems along the way, drop us a mail and we'll sort it out as soon as we can.
thegrassroute.com, Happy exploring!

'On a good day, I sell 4 dog-tags. Somedays, I sit here the whole day and not a single tag sells. On those days, I play ...
31/03/2015

'On a good day, I sell 4 dog-tags. Somedays, I sit here the whole day and not a single tag sells. On those days, I play chess on my phone or buy a newspaper. I do get bored but I have decided to like what I do. It's important for a person to like what they do for a livelihood if they want to have a happy life' - Philani
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Get yourself one of Philani's tags on a pencil bag, launching April 2nd

'Shoot me! Shoot me! Shoot me!' - meet the stars behind April's Greeting Cards-Our Greeting Cards, featuring the wonderf...
26/03/2015

'Shoot me! Shoot me! Shoot me!' - meet the stars behind April's Greeting Cards
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Our Greeting Cards, featuring the wonderful souls from Kwa.Mama Care Centre launches April 3rd

'Oh, you like my tshirt? It actually belongs to my daughter but I have no idea what High Voltage Punk Rock is. I do love...
25/03/2015

'Oh, you like my tshirt? It actually belongs to my daughter but I have no idea what High Voltage Punk Rock is. I do love sewing. My dream is to one day own a beautiful house with a sewing machine in it.' - Florence, one of the Gogos behind Ubuntu Dolls
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Ubuntu Dolls launches on our store on April 1st

From encountering an unsuspecting artisan, to seeing their story and products up on The Grassroute. Here's a quick behin...
24/03/2015

From encountering an unsuspecting artisan, to seeing their story and products up on The Grassroute. Here's a quick behind the scenes look at our production process: The Neighbourhood Stock Exchange.

'I have 5 children and 8 grandchildren. My youngest child works on a farm. The rest are all alcoholics and so I have to ...
23/03/2015

'I have 5 children and 8 grandchildren. My youngest child works on a farm. The rest are all alcoholics and so I have to look after the children. It sounds difficult, but I wouldn't change anything about my life. I've put my trust in God because He has always been there for me. Even when life is hard, He is there and I think that's my best quality, my faithfulness'. - Joyce N, one of the Gogos who make the Ubuntu Dolls
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Ubuntu Dolls launches on our store on April 1st

Stories of unsuspecting artisans. Products with meaning.
23/03/2015

Stories of unsuspecting artisans. Products with meaning.

The man beading wire flowers on the side of the road. The car guard designing jewelry in his spare time. The artist with...
23/03/2015

The man beading wire flowers on the side of the road. The car guard designing jewelry in his spare time. The artist with no hands who still sketches. This is where our story began.

We kept stumbling across these regular individuals with creative skill, passion for their work, meagre materials and no access to a market, who are producing art to survive.

The Grassroute was born as a South African store providing an online platform for unsuspecting artisans like these to connect with a greater audience, develop their craft, better their lives and to share their untold stories.

South African Informal Trading Collective
23/03/2015

South African Informal Trading Collective

Address

Durban

Website

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