The pleasures of walking through central Johannesburg
I like the Johannesburg city centre. There - I've said it.
I like the lazy pavements of Little India, the hustle and optimism around Braamfontein, the Ghanaian bars of Yeoville, the slick transformation of old buildings around Arts on Main, and the outdoor cafes sprouting around Newtown and the financial district.
One of those myths is the belief that no-one walks in Johannesburg. It's true that crime - and the fear of crime - conspire with potholed pavements and poor public transport to nudge anyone who can afford a car to shuttle between gated compounds, offices and malls.
But the truth is that every day half the people leaving their in tiny apartments in central Johannesburg to commute to work make the entire journey, both ways, on foot - earnest crowds of young men half-jogging through the suburbs as they head towards business centres like Rosebank and Sandton. Half of the rest walk for at least some of their journey.
"We're a pedestrian city," Sharon Lewis, from the Johannesburg Development Agency, told me. The JDA is now working to rewire the city's outdated infrastructure in order to better serve all those pedestrians. They're putting in walking zones, widening pavements, building bridges, contemplating bolder steps like congestion charges and cycling lanes, and hoping their funding doesn't dry up.
Many of the walkers are new residents. The population is rising sharply. Back in the 1990s, the city centre was something of a ghost-town, as businesses fled the crime and escaped to the northern suburbs. But the past five years or so have seen a dramatic transformation, as old commercial buildings are bought up by canny developers and converted into small, low-rent apartments and even dormitories.
"This is a story about the fortune to be made at the bottom of the pyramid... Forty-four percent of people living here now use email," said Sharon Lewis, pointing out that developers are already struggling to keep up with the soaring demand for affordable accommodation that isn't an hour's drive outside the city.
The trick now is to keep those rents low, and to convince big businesses that it's safe, and economically wise, to come back.
It's still early days - and be careful where you wander after dark - but the changes are real. I've spent two years exploring the city, without incident, touch wood.
I walked through the financial district recently with Nelson Mandela's lawyer, George Bizos, who said - I think without too much exaggeration - that the area could hold its own with some European capitals.
Incidentally, a few streets away, Mr Bizos has been battling for years to restore the old law office where Mr Mandela worked.
I understand from the JDA that the derelict building has finally been taken over by the City, and renovation work will start any day now.
As for the pleasures, and necessities of walking in a city... Here are a couple of recent articles I've enjoyed - one about altered perspectives and another celebrating a slower pace of life.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~14~RS~)
I’m 
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Very positive article Andrew. Somehow I feel you will not get as much response for it as you would had the the headline said, "Jo`burg falling apart."
I have not been to the Jo`burg CBD in the past twelve months but the impression I had as well, with all the construction that was happening at the time, was that it was a city trying to lift itself up. I hope it succeeds.
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What an interesting piece about Johannesburg - Jo'burg; Jozi; eGoli (City of Gold), the pulse of Mzansi (Zulu word meaning south = South Africa), Africa's Manhattan.
Thanks.
How about a little did you know?
Johannesburg is an important center for large-scale gold and diamond trade. It’s located on the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range.
Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in the country.
Johannesburg is one of the 40 largest metropolitan areas of the world. It is Africa’s second largest global city, after Cairo.
The largest and busiest airport of Africa - O.R. Tambo International Airport is located in Johannesburg. O.R. Tambo airport handles an estimated 18M passengers a year. Its recently refurbished international terminal received its first Airbus A380 – which has a 538 passenger capacity.
The Constitutional Court, the highest court of South Africa, is located in Johannesburg.
Johannesburg houses the tallest office block as well as tallest tower in Africa namely, the Carlton Centre (50 stories) and the Hillbrow Tower (90 stories).
And being a studenet of ancient history, here's the fact I like best:
40% of all the world's human ancestor fossils have been discovered in and around Johannesburg. The Sterkfontein Fossil site is the world's richest hominid site. It has produced the first adult Australopithecus Africanus.
The Constitutional Court, the highest court of our land established after the 1994 democratic elections is located in Johannesburg in an acclaimed new building at Constitution Hill.
Johannesburg’s thriving new cultural precinct is named Newtown. Here you can visit the Market Theatre and South African Breweries World of Beer which receives almost 50,000 visitors annually – yes SA is loves its beer. Take a WOB tour...
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Wow!!
Harding being positve for a change?
I miss the real negativity at its best from your reporting!!
Its ok we are used to bitter Whites in SA being negative about all the Gov. ever does.
I am surprised about this article.
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Very good Andrew, Joburg is my city, and I do love it! Its good to see the positive changes, perhaps when I am in town we could meet for a cuppa...
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thanks for your comments.
3 - i hope you're confusing negativity with well-intentioned criticism
4 - absolutely - i'm sure you can guess my email
i've just been contacted by a group of photographers who say they regularly walk around Joburg and try to help change the image of the city through their work. if you're interested, here are the links they've given me...
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joburg-Photowalkers/106599396036982?ref=ts
GoogleGroups: http://groups.google.com/group/joburg-photowalkers
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1210029@N21/pool/
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I worked in Braamfontein for around 4 years (around 7 years ago) and also spent 5 years close to that area as I attended the Rand Afrikaans University (now known as the University of Johannesburg). I used to constantly defend the area, loving it's diversity as part of the new South Africa. Sadly it all ended in tears when I was hijacked on my way home one night. I now live in the UK.
This article obviously hit a nerve and I sincerely wish it was an accurate representation of the city I used to love. I have kept in touch with a lot of my old colleagues (many of whom have moved on because of similar stories like mine) but the one girl who still works there is rather optimistic about the future of the area. So here’s hoping!
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@ andrew, uhm yeah...will do...thanks
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must be a miracle that you like anything about south africa. you even surprised yourself that you like the jozi cbd.this is one of the major reasons for hosting the world cup,to change perceptions and it looks like its working. if you never lived here in jozi i doubt you would write anything positive about it. we the financial kings in africa. the gauteng province contributes more gdp than any other african country(well except for egypt) on its own and remember we have 9 provinces.i live in jozi and love the hustle here.i tell my friends around the world it is best to be black in jozi than anywhere else in the universe.big problem is just the influx if african immigrants and i doubt if the infrastructure will hold up.thanks for finally seeing the light
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Great article Andrew !
We are often in Jozi with the Joburg Photowalkers clicking away at the vibrant city. Downtown Joburg has so much personality, so much soul, its so alive - I saw so many smiles - smiles you don't see in the botox valleys in the North of Joburg. I have never experienced a city quite like it in the world - first or third world. What they have done to Newtown is fantastic. I just wish someone would document Hillbrow and Jozi from the 50s / 60's through the decades to now - the different immigrants over the years - its so interesting. Joburg has so much history.
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As one of the early Joburg PhotoWalkers I have learned more about this city and the people who live in it, walking it, taking photographs and connecting with people on the ground over the last 2 years, than I ever did as a business professional these last 25 years!
Long may it continue.
As PhotoWalkers we try to get at least one planned walk a month, many times we end up doing 2 or 3 ... some more 'informal' than others. Basically, if we can get 2 or more photographers together (we find safety in numbers) ... we're on.
In some instances we've had 30 or 40 join us ... interestingly enough to the more edgy locations. We ended up hiring a bus to get us into the heart of Soweto to visit Motsoaledi squatter camp, and had more than 40 people join us for the recent Bree Street Market, Park Station PhotoWalk.
We've taken in Newton, Freedom Park (Pretoria), the Spice Tour in Fordsburg and suburbs in and around old Jozi.
All in all ... in amongst the decay and grime we find real Ubuntu, genuine smiles, and stories galore. For many of us, PhotoWalking has been a life-changing experience.
For the better.
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I very much enjoyed reading this article and I echo the feeling that its great to hear a positive story. As someone who has never reached South Africa, tho always wished to. I am heartened to hear that on any future visit i may be able to walk the streets of Jo'Burg. i have always felt that the only way to get to know a city and its people is to walk the streets, feel the vibe etc. I have used this method in numerous cities throughout the world and never encountered any real problems including high crime cities such as Nairobi, Infact all i have ever encountered are friendly people and interesting sites. I can hardly wait till my 1st visit to South Africa now.
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Wow, Andrew Harding for positive change. Thank you so much Mr afrikaner(comment3), you already said it ALL in the best teasing way and although i am still on the wounds and disappointment of the parenthetic impartiality and lack of honesty of the BBC on the ways they dismiss our comments but for really i have nothing to add only to show my appreciation to you. And Andrew Harding you owe us a lot.
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Lovely article, Andrew. I have a new book out - "Slow Motion: stories about walking" - which looks at walking in Joburg. I think you might enjoy it.
http://tinyurl.com/36mhbzd
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many thanks 13 - will definitely look it up
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This is all good, nay great, stuff - get the CBD moving again.
I know that a TV programme was made of this visit. Care to share the title and possible screening times this weekend, please. I know it was screened at least once on one of the channels, however I missed the actual details and do not know what to search for. Much appreciated. Thanks.
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Dear Andrew Harding
I read with great interest your article on the BBC website - 'Top 10 Culprits' of Horn of Africa famine – (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14291581 ) [Broken URL edited by Moderator]
I have been living in Kenya for some four years and working in the region on humanitarian programmes. I do not pretend to have a complete grasp of the issues involved, but I have an idea of how Kenya can do more for itself, and how the UN can assist.
Let's look at some facts -
1. At present there are over 80 offices of UN Funds, Programmes and Agencies operating from Kenya. Total number of UN staff working in Kenya is over 3000. 50 percent of the staff members are located outside the UN Gigiri complex in Nairobi. Source - UNON Website. That means there are 1,500 staff working in offices in huge UN complex at Gigiri.
2. I cannot find out how many vehicles the UN in Kenya has at its disposal, but if there are 80 offices, and each has, say, 10 assorted vehicles, that is 800 vehicles.
3. The Kenya Army's organisation consists of two armoured brigades, four infantry brigades, one engineer brigade, one armoured reconnaissance battalion, three artillery battalions, three engineer battalions, one independent air cavalry battalion with 35 armed helicopters (Embakasi), five infantry battalions, one parachute battalion and one ranger battalion for low-intensity warfare. The Kenya army has around 24,000 active personnel. (Source– Wikipedia.)
4. The British Army usually has a Battlegroup (some 1,000 soldiers) in Kenya, training for Afghanistan, and all living and operating in Laikipia, which is very close to the famine affected areas. They have trucks and a lot of 4x4 vehicles. Plenty of fit young men and women.
5. There is a bumper harvest, now, in Kenya - some areas of the highlands and the rift valley. Food that could be redirected to the famine areas. Source - Current Kenya newspapers and http://allafrica.com/stories/201108020140.html.
Under international law the Kenya government has a responsibility to secure the safety and well being of all its citizens. They have resources that can be mobilized, but they are not doing so. They are waiting for money from donors.
Under humanitarian principles, the UN is required to put life saving operations at the fore front and make these a priority. They have resources in Kenya, assigned to lower priority programmes, which are not being reassigned – they are waiting for money from donors.
Both these parties are failing in their duties. Both should be held to task and held responsible.
Between the UN and Kenya Army, there is enough logistic muscle to collect the food in the bumper harvest, transport it to the famine areas, and coordinate the distribution. Even if the British Army fails to join in, there are huge resources that could be made available. And made available now.
When the floods happened in the Samburu area a couple of years ago, the Kenya Army was mobilized to save foreign tourists from the duisaster. That set a precedent of behaviour and highlighted capacity to cope in dealing with disaster. They can be mobilized again. Indeed, their website claims they can be used for drought disasters Drought disaster - http://www.mod.go.ke/army/?page_link=disastermgnt
Drought Disaster
The Kenya Army has been called upon to respond to the following:
• Provide relief.
• Provide Security.
• Provide and treat water.
• Construct dams.
• Provide Medical services.
• Provide logistical support for veterinary services.
I think it is an idea worthy of consideration. Society needs to voice it and we need the media to voice it for us.
Very best regards to you, and looking forward to reading this one on BBC Website
Chris Petch
Nairobi, Kenya
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It's my first time on BBC blogs, and I must say I enjoy the conversation and share stories from around Africa. Andrew, as you might already know, elections in Liberia are just around the corner. I've heard several concerns from family and friends that live in Liberia about the Government stability. One in particular is the story about Mr. Albert Bropleh (former:Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) chairman). Who was kidnapped from his home and has been held in prison for about 62 days now. Please look into this if you have the time, because I find it very disheartening on the part of the Liberian government to wrongfully imprison a U.S. Citizen without due process! http://justice4albert.org
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