A Blog illustrating the collapse and physical destruction of Johannesburg in the "New South Africa" -- the things that tourists are NOT told about.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
A Tour Through Hillbrow, Part 1
Above: Joel Street, Berea.
Above: Apartments, Olivia Street, Berea.
Above: Apartments, cnr Lily Ave and Olivia Street, Berea.
72 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Realist, you know what?..I wonder since when does "POVERTY" give them an "Excuse" to live like bloody PIGS ...can it be a CULTURE problem? Well done mate keep it coming, the world is watching!!
What'd be interesting, too, is to put up some old 70s and 80s pictures of Hillbrow, in the best possible case showing some "then and now" effect. Is there anybody who could contribute old pictures?
What do you expect? Before the Voortrekkers arrived these people lived in kraals. Clothing was mostly cattle skin. They didn’t even have the wheel. They were cattle farmers. If a place was trashed they simply moved on.
Found this on the official Joburg website: "This programme has created a lot of excitement and we believe it is a fundamental building block in the process to reach our goal of Johannesburg becoming a world class city by 2030".
This was posted in April 2005 referring to the Jhb Property Company's Better Buildings Programme. Isn't it peculiar that in 12 years a world class city was turned into a slum and that 25 years is needed to fix it up?
I came to the Uk from Durban and still have fond memories of the blue skies and my surfboard, I would like some then and now photos. I simply cannot believe SA is that bad it looks like towns in the USA. I remember being in Eskom (Queensburgh) and watching assault on precinct 13 when i was about 11. Remember thinking that Americans lived in broken buildings and had debauchery all around them. Of course the SAPS and the kirk would not allow that in SA. But now I am at the point of tears, I will never return to my beloved SA. I want to remember it as it was.
No offense, but you’ve managed to highlight one area in SA that has gone into decline. Woopee!
In my student days (late 80's early 90's) I spent a lot of time in Hillbrow. It wasn't exactly a tourist destination at that time either. Yes, Hillbrow is now an absolute hellhole but EVERY city in every country in the world has its own Hillbrow. This isn't anything special or specific to SA. It can’t be that bad as you managed to drive around quite a bit and take pictures and get away with the camera.
Yes, this country is an absolute mess. I’ve had someone point a gun at me and threaten to kill me for a few rand and my cell phone. But what you’ve managed to do is trivialise what is a serious COUNTRY WIDE issue by pointing out that we have an area in Joburg that has a vagrancy and litter problem. Well done. I can just see it now “we can’t go to South Africa Mary-Lue, they have litter”. If your going to go to such an effort to make a point try and make sure it’s a valid point.
Are you on any medication my man ??..this is not about litter & vagrants..this is about DESTRUCTION !!!!..JESUS read the whole blog and wipe the SHIT from your eyes man !
In response to a-NONY-mouse above...True, this blogger posts about Jhb and the area...My guess is that he has to spend HOURS of his own valuable time to bring these photos to the web...as far as I know he is NOT paid for this and actually has refused financial help. If you (writer above) have pictures of YOUR area, please be so kind as to post them and leave a link for us ;-) I have been out of SA since 1999, NEVER sorry and just hope that the next 25 years sees the solution (AIDS would solve most of the population problems...Yes it sounds harsh, and totally politically incorrect) My sincerest sympathies to those still stuck in SA and hope you find a way OUT.
Keep it up RR, assholes like above just dont get it. Civilisation is about "progress" not about making excuses for barbarism. All the fancy rhetoric does not change the fact that more damage has been done in 12 years than in the preceding 55 years. I salute you for continuing with your crusade, may guys like you and neill watson be blessed with energy and drive to continue the fight,may God grant you resources and supporters to fight the good fight. AS FOR ME, I've left the country to find a place where hard work, good deeds, family values are cherished and rewarded. I cant be bothered with it anymore, I've wasted enough of my energy and life on a battle we cant win. GOD has truly forsaken Africa, wonder why?
Very interesting. Worked in Jhbg for quite a while and used to do the walk from Jhbg station to Wits every day. Not that I would even consider it today.
I'm wondering what has happened to whose slick places like the Carlton Center ice rink? Or the Johannesburg Jazz Club that we used to walk to on Jeppe Street at 22h00 on a Friday ... and that was from the central bus station ...
I don't buy the argument that this is acceptable in any city. It's vagrancy whichever way you look at it. Yes, every city has its bad spots, and even here in Scandinavia I wouldn't go walking around certain areas at night, but there is an issue of self-pride and self-respect that is ingrained somewhere in a culture.
During a study at university in Durban we found there was the common belief, and not unjustified, that townships looked the way they did because there was no sense of ownership. You would find cars outside tin shacks floating in sewerage. The car you can take with you, but the property you never owned.
If people want to trash a neighbourhood then there are ways and means of dealing with it. Unfortunately if the decision makers are too afraid of losing popular support then their minds are just as dirtied as the streets they should keep clean.
I have visited South Africa as a foreign tourist 3 times (in 1985, 1987 and 1989).
When I was in Johannesburg I used to stay and spend most of the time in Hillbrow (except for the last visit when the detoriation had already begun).
In 1985 Hillbrow was a cosy place with lots of restaurants, bars and discotheques. When I came 2 years later the place had become a grey area - that is a mixed race area. Allthough mixed areas were not legal officially at that time, the authorities seemed to turn the blind eye to it. However Hillbrow was still predominantly White allthough the streets were teeming with Blacks. So was the hotel in which I stayed. Hillbrow had clearly become less cosy and the atmosphere much like big cities with many Blacks in the USA. When I came back in 1989 the so-called petty apartheid had been almost abolished, and Hillbrow was now flooded with Blacks, and it was clear that these Blacks did not like White people very much. I decided to stay in a Hotel in another part of the city (still teeming with Blacks like the rest of the city). After that I haven't visited South Africa any more, so therefore the pictures on this blog are interesting to me. It went as I predicted back then. The Blacks are not able or willing to fit into and continue White civilisation.
Funny how geography doesn't matter, demographics do.
I could put these captions under any pictures of the former metropolitan paradises of Detroit, Los Angeles or any other major urban center and you couldn't tell the difference because they all look the same.
This has nothing to do with "poverty," or the legacy of "colonialism." This is bluegums doing what they do best, which is lay waste to a civilization they could never dream of building, much less live in like human beings.
"If we're going to talk about South Africa as the rainbow nation," says Richard Levin, Yeoville resident and sociologist, "Then if we fail in Yeoville, we fail in South Africa."
This comment comes from a Harvard University Kennedy School of Government website.
Truth is Joburg is wealthier than its ever been and very far from dying as horrible as these changing demographics show. The poverty of Africa was always elsewhere and now its in your face. Could happen anywhere and probably will. Dont have to be so sanctimonious.
Hey - if you are going to complain about it - do something about it, you big girl's blouse.
What's the matter wiv u - go an pick up some litter, man! Oh, I forgot, you don't do that because you are white! You just prefer to complain you precious sissy.
I think it is really sad, not sad to look at these pictures but sad that you have nothing better to do with your time.Why dont you put your energy into something more productive!
The person who said, we don't do anything about the litter because we are white. I have heard of a couple of people going there and picking up garbage, some were attacked and robbed, others cleaned up and the VERY NEXT day it looked worse than before!!! What comment do you have to that?
i agree with chris, maybe you could take a look in the papers and see that it is not only places in africa, especially johannesburg that are full of poverty, GET REAL!!!!
I grew up in Hillbrow in the 50"s and the 60"s. This was a fabulous cosmopolitan place with nightclubs bistros, cafes two movie theatres clean streets, hotels. I wanted to go back and look in 1989 and my brother wouldn't take me there he said it was too dangerous and it would make me sad. Now I had to look at this. I am speechless. I always told my American children that one day we would go back to see where the African grew up. Ja right, it's Gone With The wind how sad. How can a people, any people do this?? Jasmine Ogden Richards
does this one sided view of life make you and the many who have appreciated your comments noble wonderful people. get a life man you have completely NO idea what its like to live and grow up without running water, education or basic living requirements. would you do better??? i dont think so. we white people left a mess in south africa, a huge mess by not educating 80% of the people by not allowing them human rights, now the trouble strats but blame veryone else. you are a coward
I have always felt that Hillbrow is one of the great tragedies of my life. I spent many a year there and would probably have lived there still if it remained as it was then.
I am now running a very successful business in the US but would never have come here if things did not change so badly in SA.
I have many emotions when I see these pictures but the strongest is one of profound sadness and loss.
i grew up in johannesburg. walked all those areas a loved them. moved to the usa in 1976 and been a texan for 30 years. at the back of my mind there was always a hope of return even tho i realized that is was slim. now i see it totally slipping (slipped) away. i knew my decision to leave was correct but i was so excited when there was a transfer of power without bloodshed. i was so optimistic because i really thought it could happen. i am dismayed that the powers that be in south africa have totally blown it. surely they could have looked at recent history in africa and had more sense. greed and ego have ruined a wonderful opportunity.
I know it doesn't look like that everywhere, but that is not the problem. The problem is that it is spreading and the DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED gov't won't do anything about it. We didn't always have money as a family, but even when we didn't, we didn't resort to living like pigs. How can ANY human allow the area that they call home deteriorate that much???
A while back I had much experience working and travelling throughout Africa as part of my job.
What I have come to understand about Africans is that they are collectively and individually a Tribal People. What this means essentially is that there are leaders and they have their minions. The leaders get all the wealth, women, cattle etc and the rest of the tribe subsists on very little. Nothing has changed - Sure they wear suits and run business's but the culture of tribalism is still they way the conduct business. The corruption is learnt from those at the top and becomes endemic to the whole country.
Kenya has had 30/40 yrs of independance the same with other African countries that were once sparkling and thriving albeit they were colonies but since gaining their independance they have slid inexorably towards poverty and starvation. All promulgated by the corrupt leaders of those respective nations. IT will not change in Africa no matter how much I want or wish or believe in the better part of human nature or education.
My Name is Michelle and just looking at all this does make me so sad because SA is still and was way back then a beautiful country but the way things are going we are going down fast can't these guys see what they are doing to this country they wanted freedom they now have it lets work together build this country up not break it down do we really want to be like Zimbabwe can't these guys see that if thats the case they will all suffer my maid says daily please don't let it happen here what happended in Zim we will all suffer not just the whites but the blacks too lets work together stop fighting being negative lets make this country the best because I still feel SA is a beautiful country but we need to start with immediate effect otherwise we are going one way and thats backwards we don't want a Zimbabwe here in SA Come on guys!!!
white people have to invest more in these areas. so why dont they do just that! when the level of welfare for these blacks declines any further, the whites will be held responsible. and then....not only white farmers will be killed. something to consider. i'm from holland and see this pictures for the first time. really sad.
I think anyone with half a brain can see for themselves that it is not just Hillbrow that looks like a complete slum area but most areas including the so called good suburbs are also constantly littered with rubbish and it is obvious that they are not being maintained. My mother moved from Durban to live in Hillbrow on her own when she was only 17 years old, and it is unbelievebly sad for people who grew up in Hillbrow which was once a cosmopolitan, thriving city with an abundance of nightlife and ambience, to see what it is now. Being poor is not an excuse for trashing the small amount of property that you do have access to, but it seems to pretty much be the staple excuse for everything these days. My mom grew up poor, many days having nothing to eat but they didn't steal or brutally murder, they just made do with what they had and got through it. I would also like to comment on the sky news team who flew all the way out to S.A to do a feature on the poor 'train surfers' who are so bored and underpriveleged they have to ride on top of the trains and get killed by power lines for fun. Shame! PIty they are too lazy to go out and get a job, any job even if they dont have the quailifications. If they can send a crew out to cover a pathetic story like that then why cant they send a crew to cover the violent crime in SA? I appeal to people to take a stand and send an e mail to sky news highlighting the fact that we have far more serious problems in this country , and the rest of the world should be made aware.
This is a comment in response to Mr Holland. You say 'white' people need to invest in these areas. Dont you think a lot of 'white' people had homes, families and jobs in these areas. And why dont you take a minute and think why they have all left!! Unfortunately, the birth of the New South Africa came at a great cost, to all who lived there and all that still do. Shooting and stabbing have become a common affair, not to mention rape and torture. The stories you hear along the grape vine, they dont make the news otherwise the broadcast would be on 24/7. It happens every where and ofcourse it is sad but in theses so called areas you want 'whites' to invest in, crime is at its worst. Would you want to live in a suburb where you are not only scared to leave your house but scared to actually live in it. Terrified your wife will be tortured and your daughter raped in front of your eyes. And then comes your turn...... Would you want to live in a suburb like that, that is a story the pictures can not tell you, but if they had a voice they would. Would you invest in an area like that????? I dont think so. You dont know the half of it.
In response to anonymous....Newport Wales. Obviously there are many countries through out the world that have cities with run down areas.
But just because there are does that make what South Africa has become okay, Ja man no worries you think Berea is bad you should check out Newport. Both may be as devastating as the other, or one worse off than the other BUT that does not make it acceptable.
What is happening is still terrible and heartbreaking for those who are South African. This website is about South Africa, if you do not want to read about it or look at the pictures than use your time more constructively.
The voortrekkers hey, before they moved in you say these people lived in kraals. Well dear, the land was theirs to do with it what they pleased after all they got there first.
Im sure they could have lived with out the wheel. They were nomads, maybe you should look that up. They used the land they lived on, benefiting from the natural resources it had to offer. They did not polute the air or ruin the land.
You say your family did not always have money but you never lived like pigs. Well if you lived in an area where every single person you knew had either been held at gun point, high jacked, raped, murdered, beaten up and shot at. Would you not want to leave the area you lived in or even the country you called home. Some people had to flea, maybe you should read the blog below the pictures of the BP service station!
These buildings were left vacant, abandoned, not sold. Squaters move in and live there as best they can. Most have no money so how may I ask do you propose they live????
Caron yes blame it on apartheid, but do you know that apartheid was demolished more than 25 years ago and 100% of the destroyers was not even born back then and education was in there reach but they prevered the streets of Hillbrow and they all grew up with running water
It's so sad to see what has happened to Hillbrow, where I spent a good portion of my 20's.
What's even sadder is reading some of these idiotic, denialist posts with bullshit like 'Every place has slums like Hillbrow' or 'Every place has crime', or the poltically correct idiocy 'The Blacks were there first, it's their country to ruin.'
Every place does have crime - yes -but not with the per capita consistency and savagery that is peculiar to South Africa. I live in New York and there are NO slums like those pictured on this blog here in NYC. Non at all. Exactly the opposite - the city is regenerating, and whatever crime there is here is quickly squashed by the NYPD, one of the finest police depts on the planet.
The politically incorrect conclusion? Blacks in Africa can't run their own countries without them being flushed down the toilet of ineptitude, famine, corruption and mass murder. The fact that there were blacks in South Africa first is inconsequential - contrary to PC myth, all land is not owned collectively, by virtue of birth, but rather by the pioneers and innovators that would develop and utilize that land for the betterment of all. Before the arrival of white settlers, South Africa's development consisted of tribes at war with one another, their existences dictated by witchdoctors - oh wait - that's howe they live now.
I emigrated to South Africa in 1975. I was in my mid 20's and arrived with a wife and two babies under school age. Our first month was spent in a "residential Hotel" - the El-Kero in Pietersen Street, just off Claim Street, within walking distance of HighPoint. Most of the residents in the hotel were retired people living on pensions who had decided to spend their golden years in the relative comfort of a small hotel where everything was provided, at an afordable price. While I was at work my wife walked to the shops in HighPoint with the two childen in tow. We all felt safe. After the first month we moved to "flatland" - close to Windsor Park in Randburg where there was a happy, safe, cosmopolitan community. Flat dwellers like us didn't have a lot of money but we did have pride in our neighbourhood. The streets were clean, litter was deposited in rubish bins and it was a safe place to live. Like most immigrants we arrived with nothing more than we could carry, and very little money. For the first few months we had no furniture, we managed to find a second hand single bed for the children to share, while my wife and I slept on an air bed. Our table was a tomatoe box and our chairs - we sat on the floor. That was more than 30 years ago. Today I live in large house in an upmarket suburb. My children left the country forever 10 years ago because of the increase in crime - especially muggings and hijackings. I have seen my grandson once and my granddaughter twice. Everyday either my wife or I collect a mountain of litter from in front of my house, but it makes no difference because every bluegum that walks past or alights from a taxi drops litter, even though there are litter bins at regular intervals along the road. Randburg was one of the first municipalities to go ANC, and I have watched the town centre descend from a vibrant clean first world city to be proud of, to a squalid third world dirty street market slum to be ashamed of. It is not just Hillbrow that is in decay. It is not just Johannesburg City Centre that is dying. It is more obvious there because there are more bluegums per square kilometre, but the rot is everywhere. We once had parks with well kept gardens and lawns where children played, now they are deserted, overgrown and occupied by squatters. I've had enough. By the end of the year I'll sell up and move back to the UK with very little to show for more than 30 years of my adult life invested here.
I used to live in RSA (Jo`burg and CT) when I was a kid - back then it was the most beautiful country I`ve ever been to. Later (early 80ies) we moved to Nigeria (Lagos), and guess what: It looked just like Jo`burg today. Somehow they are really good in turning everything good into a big piece shit - just look at Rhodesia, Angola, Mozambique etc. etc. etc.
I am a senior academic at RAU (University of Johannesburg). I am GLAD that people still have the GUTS in this country to show that they will not ACCEPT THE DISGUST AND DECLINE. This relates to all South African's who has refused to "just accept" crime and deterioration (usually urged on by the ones that say: "...c'mon, don't be so negative...!"). To me those are people that want us to just accept what is happening, and "adapt". I was not brought up that way, I am not that type of person.
Congratulations to this website.
Although it is not a pleasure to see the deterioration of anything, it gives me hope that I am not the only one which is saddened by this.
Navinating at random in Internet, one night I find Hillbrow, the streets I was walking in the year 1970. And yep, you must give high-resolution pics of everything. South Africa is the forgotten land in the World, I realize. At most, some know that the Black People are now democratic and free, presumably well educated, nice to the Whites and singing all time.
"Hillbrow is now an absolute hellhole but EVERY city in every country in the world has its own Hillbrow. This isn't anything special or specific to SA"
the closest london has is brixton and that PALES in comparrison to this place
most cities have bad areas but none that arent in a war zone are THIS bad
compton maybe in LA nope sorry maat its not nearly this bad
ok how about the bronx in NY nah sorry again even that isnt this bad
look at most european cities nothing looks like this that isnt in iraq etc
maybe its due to the whites handing power to a group of people who have 1 never had power before 2 have an ass backwards culture 3 not sure where there next meal is coming from 4 prepared to do the absolute worst to get what they want because thats all they know
i think its time for us brits to come back and run SA they obviously cant run it on their own
Can you tell me how you manage to get these pictures. I lived in this area in the 80's and would dearly love to see some apartments I stayed in at the time.
i mould like to say i was a greek imigrant born in RSA. have the verry best memories from johannesburg.left at the age of 7. i couldn't recognise many sites from your pictures but showing them to my mother, she could hardly believe what she saw. she lived there for almost 25 years and never believed hillbrow would end up like that.
My God all you liberal white blamers and don't you have anything better to doers make me sick! I've read repeatedly as liberals state the cause of the decline as being due to 'the blacks couldn't get an education' under apartheid - well, then, please explain the exact same problem we have with blacks in the USA where education is free and open (and has been for MANY years) to all??????
Caron said >>>...you have completely NO idea what its like to live and grow up without running water, education or basic living requirements. Would you do better??? I don’t think so. White people left a mess in south Africa, a huge mess by not educating 80% of the people by not allowing them human rights,<<<
As a matter of fact Caron, white people did do just that in other places, and the result is the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Also, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Malaya all colonies, all thriving, all hardworking, clean and healthy places where people are happy. (Apart from the black neighborhoods strangely enough!)
As for leaving a mess in SA. er...no, whites left a thriving efficient country. Admittedly, SA was still suffering from years of sanctions imposed by foreign Marxists in order to destroy the Capitalist infrastructure and replace it with that Oh so successful Marxist economic system. Blacks have been given so much for so long and still they fail to achieve, why is that Caron? How many wells and clinics do we need to build them, how many tractors do we have to keep sending them? Why can't they learn? Look at just one example of a former Colony, let’s take Singapore. Yes Singapore, that bustling, gleaming jewel in the Far East, a tiny overpopulated speck on the map, but populated with hardworking, intelligent people. It was a sandals and trinket economy just a few decades ago. Now these good folks are not white, but they seem to be doing just fine, even after having endured COLONIALISM UNDER WHITE OPPRESSORS!!! Oh my, the horror!
Lack of education is keeping SA Blacks down. Well yes and no Caron. Historically Blacks most definitely were educated within their attainment level which is about IQ 75 according to all available evidence. Prior to the whites arrival in SA, (about the same time as the Northern Bantus arrived, it wasn't their land) the education system was a tad less advanced. But moving forward to the Apartheid era, for many years Black children were forbidden to attend school by their Marxist overlords in order to protest the system that kept them apart from Whites. Take a look at the pictures again Caron, Hillbrow, or any image from the CBJ in Jo'burg and ask yourself, why would Whites want to live separately from Blacks; any ideas Caron, any at all? Why do Whites, Asians, and Orientals all want to live apart from Blacks? btw, would you like to live amongst these people Caron? How long do you think you'd last?
I used to be stationed at Hillbrow SAP through the mid 80's into the early 90s and lived in the area. I am truly shocked by the pics and can't believe how bad the area is. Hillbrow was described as amelting pot for South African culture, in the late 80s it was a so called "grey area" and now look at it a slum
I really cant say who's fault it is for Hillbrow - once being a beautiful peaceful neighbourhood ending up like this.
What I do know is that it wasn't like that some time back. It's not our job to show fingers.
But if you stare the fact right in the face:
1. Illegal immegrants trying to make a living selling drugs
2. A currupt legal system and one that clearly doesnt work.
3. People that are behaving like animals and destroying everyting for what reason?
Is it because of anger? As if its is going to change anything!
Yes and I'm not a racist, but it seems like this culture differences is the cause of all this.We like having nice things and try to keep thing beautiful while some people don't care - they just want to eat, break stuff and sleep.- lets be honest - the majority is from other cultures - including illegal immagrants selling drugs to our children
In the same breath i say that there are people from all cultures that wants a safe environment for themselves and their children. Some of my best friends are from other cultures and they totally agree with me -
Whey do someone want to do this to a jewel?It makes me sick - maybe they should lock al the people up in Hillbrow they can find and keep them in jail for ananalyses to see who is on drugs - braindead and pshycopaths!
Hi, higher resolution please and thank you for demonstrating the TRUTH. I agree with everyone who said that this is a consequence of black people living there - they do have a "gift" for destruction. We should not play along!!!
Oh my god this is extremely sad. I am from Argentina and have never been in South Africa. I have a 90s book for travellers that depicts Johannesburg as a exciting place to visit. I wonder how Capetown is now.
First time "I took a girl to the movies" was at Kine centre Hillbrow. I remember when the decay started and the place closed how disheartened I was. Then it became known that you couldn't walk there at night. Afterwards told to not get out of the car. Lastly that you shouldn't drive past there. Was it Johannes Kerkorrel that wrote a ballad to it and ended up committing suicide.
I left South Africa in 1997- and revisited in 2000, 2001,2002,2003 and 2005. As you can see my love affair with my home country slowly came to an end as I observed the decline into chaos and anarchy. Johannesburg is a symbol of this anarchy as far as I am concerned and as much as South Africans try to bury their heads in the sand (we are great at doing this) they cannot deny this. Yes a very sad and pitiful state of affairs.
I studied at Wits in early 90s. I remember walking from Braamfontein to Hillbrow on weekends to the famous clubs like Bella Napoli, The doors a bit south Etc. I drove through Hillbrow a few years ago, and there is nothing left of these sites. The doors, ironically, does not have a front door, no paint. So sad. Now living overseas, and better to remember it the way it used to be.
I lived in SA from 1971 to 1986, and i was seriously considering of moving back again. All i have is good memories of this wonderfull country, i owe a lot of my success to the foundations that were imparted in me for the rest of my life. However (as "racist" as i may sound) it was a common secret that if blacks were to rule the country , they would tear it appart and destroy it, and i am sad to say, that these pictures in here are good proof of it. I have walked, cycled, rode a motorcycle, and drove in ALL those streets, and it broke my heart to see the ruins that they have turned them into. We had immigrated from a poor country in Europe, but we KNEW even then, that beeing poor, is NOT an excuse , to steal , kill, rape and destroy property, buildings and neiborhoods, instead it should be an excuse for hard honest work, so that you can create a future for your childern and grandchildren.I may not sound liberal, you might even think i am all for apartheit, thats not the case. I beleive that a man should be free, but his freedom should not destroy another mans work and effort. 12 years of so called "freedom" have pulled an entire nation , and generations to come 100 yrs back. Is that the kind of freedom Mr Nelson Mandela was talking about ? Was that the "free nation" , "one man one vote" he was proclaiming? i wonder.....
How green was our valley, at one time. And I can feel in my bones these images presage the future of the West. We are collectively in the process of discarding our birthright, the things that would not have existed without our ancestors' labor. In the end we will end up leaving ourselves with nothing.
These photo images are not merely pictures of pockets of misery and blight and social disintegration. They are images of the future our children will be trapped in.
In the end, it would have been better to have resisted all of this; there is a certain dignity in going down with a fight.
Instead, we have been so thoroughly vanquished.
Of course, in resisting, the final scenario would have been millions of blood-spattered whites fleeing to the coastal cities, hoping, probably erroneously, for evacuation assistance from Western nations.
Above: Joel Street, Berea.
Above: Apartments, Olivia Street, Berea.
Above: Apartments, cnr Lily Ave and Olivia Street, Berea. 
72 comments:
Realist, you know what?..I wonder since when does "POVERTY" give them an "Excuse" to live like bloody PIGS ...can it be a CULTURE problem? Well done mate keep it coming, the world is watching!!
Can you post these in higher resolution in the future?
Can you post these in higher resolution in the future?
Yes, I can, they are all my original pictures.
Is there anybody else who wants them in higher resolution? I will do so if the demand is there.
Yes, I'd also be interested in a higher resolution. Keep up the good work!
What'd be interesting, too, is to put up some old 70s and 80s pictures of Hillbrow, in the best possible case showing some "then and now" effect. Is there anybody who could contribute old pictures?
What do you expect? Before the Voortrekkers arrived these people lived in kraals. Clothing was mostly cattle skin. They didn’t even have the wheel. They were cattle farmers. If a place was trashed they simply moved on.
Found this on the official Joburg website: "This programme has created a lot of excitement and we believe it is a fundamental building block in the process to reach our goal of Johannesburg becoming a world class city by 2030".
This was posted in April 2005 referring to the Jhb Property Company's Better Buildings Programme. Isn't it peculiar that in 12 years a world class city was turned into a slum and that 25 years is needed to fix it up?
I came to the Uk from Durban and still have fond memories of the blue skies and my surfboard, I would like some then and now photos. I simply cannot believe SA is that bad it looks like towns in the USA. I remember being in Eskom (Queensburgh) and watching assault on precinct 13 when i was about 11. Remember thinking that Americans lived in broken buildings and had debauchery all around them. Of course the SAPS and the kirk would not allow that in SA. But now I am at the point of tears, I will never return to my beloved SA. I want to remember it as it was.
No offense, but you’ve managed to highlight one area in SA that has gone into decline. Woopee!
In my student days (late 80's early 90's) I spent a lot of time in Hillbrow. It wasn't exactly a tourist destination at that time either.
Yes, Hillbrow is now an absolute hellhole but EVERY city in every country in the world has its own Hillbrow. This isn't anything special or specific to SA. It can’t be that bad as you managed to drive around quite a bit and take pictures and get away with the camera.
Yes, this country is an absolute mess. I’ve had someone point a gun at me and threaten to kill me for a few rand and my cell phone. But what you’ve managed to do is trivialise what is a serious COUNTRY WIDE issue by pointing out that we have an area in Joburg that has a vagrancy and litter problem. Well done. I can just see it now “we can’t go to South Africa Mary-Lue, they have litter”. If your going to go to such an effort to make a point try and make sure it’s a valid point.
Are you on any medication my man ??..this is not about litter & vagrants..this is about DESTRUCTION !!!!..JESUS read the whole blog and wipe the SHIT from your eyes man !
In response to a-NONY-mouse above...True, this blogger posts about Jhb and the area...My guess is that he has to spend HOURS of his own valuable time to bring these photos to the web...as far as I know he is NOT paid for this and actually has refused financial help. If you (writer above) have pictures of YOUR area, please be so kind as to post them and leave a link for us ;-) I have been out of SA since 1999, NEVER sorry and just hope that the next 25 years sees the solution (AIDS would solve most of the population problems...Yes it sounds harsh, and totally politically incorrect) My sincerest sympathies to those still stuck in SA and hope you find a way OUT.
Keep it up RR, assholes like above just dont get it. Civilisation is about "progress" not about making excuses for barbarism. All the fancy rhetoric does not change the fact that more damage has been done in 12 years than in the preceding 55 years. I salute you for continuing with your crusade, may guys like you and neill watson be blessed with energy and drive to continue the fight,may God grant you resources and supporters to fight the good fight. AS FOR ME, I've left the country to find a place where hard work, good deeds, family values are cherished and rewarded. I cant be bothered with it anymore, I've wasted enough of my energy and life on a battle we cant win. GOD has truly forsaken Africa, wonder why?
Very interesting. Worked in Jhbg for quite a while and used to do the walk from Jhbg station to Wits every day. Not that I would even consider it today.
I'm wondering what has happened to whose slick places like the Carlton Center ice rink? Or the Johannesburg Jazz Club that we used to walk to on Jeppe Street at 22h00 on a Friday ... and that was from the central bus station ...
I don't buy the argument that this is acceptable in any city. It's vagrancy whichever way you look at it. Yes, every city has its bad spots, and even here in Scandinavia I wouldn't go walking around certain areas at night, but there is an issue of self-pride and self-respect that is ingrained somewhere in a culture.
During a study at university in Durban we found there was the common belief, and not unjustified, that townships looked the way they did because there was no sense of ownership. You would find cars outside tin shacks floating in sewerage. The car you can take with you, but the property you never owned.
If people want to trash a neighbourhood then there are ways and means of dealing with it. Unfortunately if the decision makers are too afraid of losing popular support then their minds are just as dirtied as the streets they should keep clean.
I have visited South Africa as a foreign tourist 3 times (in 1985, 1987 and 1989).
When I was in Johannesburg I used to stay and spend most of the time in Hillbrow (except for the last visit when the detoriation had already begun).
In 1985 Hillbrow was a cosy place with lots of restaurants, bars and discotheques. When I came 2 years later the place had become a grey area - that is a mixed race area. Allthough mixed areas were not legal officially at that time, the authorities seemed to turn the blind eye to it. However Hillbrow was still predominantly White allthough the streets were teeming with Blacks. So was the hotel in which I stayed. Hillbrow had clearly become less cosy and the atmosphere much like big cities with many Blacks in the USA. When I came back in 1989 the so-called petty apartheid had been almost abolished, and Hillbrow was now flooded with Blacks, and it was clear that these Blacks did not like White people very much. I decided to stay in a Hotel in another part of the city (still teeming with Blacks like the rest of the city). After that I haven't visited South Africa any more, so therefore the pictures on this blog are interesting to me. It went as I predicted back then. The Blacks are not able or willing to fit into and continue White civilisation.
Black is Beautiful.
This place is beautiful!
Funny how geography doesn't matter, demographics do.
I could put these captions under any pictures of the former metropolitan paradises of Detroit, Los Angeles or any other major urban center and you couldn't tell the difference because they all look the same.
This has nothing to do with "poverty," or the legacy of "colonialism." This is bluegums doing what they do best, which is lay waste to a civilization they could never dream of building, much less live in like human beings.
"If we're going to talk about South Africa as the rainbow nation," says Richard Levin, Yeoville resident and sociologist, "Then if we fail in Yeoville, we fail in South Africa."
This comment comes from a Harvard University Kennedy School of Government website.
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/case/yeoville/index.html
Note that the last news about this project was published on the site in 1997. Did Harvard's researchers lose heart in the rainbow dream?
Truth is Joburg is wealthier than its ever been and very far from dying as horrible as these changing demographics show. The poverty of Africa was always elsewhere and now its in your face. Could happen anywhere and probably will. Dont have to be so sanctimonious.
Hey - if you are going to complain about it - do something about it, you big girl's blouse.
What's the matter wiv u - go an pick up some litter, man!
Oh, I forgot, you don't do that because you are white! You just prefer to complain you precious sissy.
I think it is really sad, not sad to look at these pictures but sad that you have nothing better to do with your time.Why dont you put your energy into something more productive!
Yes Zippo, it is in their genes! Look at the rest of Africa.
This is just the beginning.
They create their own poverty by chasing whites away.
Realist,
Would people with dial-up connections not have problems downloading the pictures (or viewing the pages) when it is at a higher resolution?
I suggest you have a link below a picture to download the original photograph at its highest (original) resolution. Then you can keep everybody happy.
zippo...you know, what you say is true. Except your message is now slurred with insult and so makes it less valid.
The person who said, we don't do anything about the litter because we are white. I have heard of a couple of people going there and picking up garbage, some were attacked and robbed, others cleaned up and the VERY NEXT day it looked worse than before!!! What comment do you have to that?
i agree with chris, maybe you could take a look in the papers and see that it is not only places in africa, especially johannesburg that are full of poverty, GET REAL!!!!
Jeeeezzzz...the LIBERALS could not answer ole zippo...shame..
I grew up in Hillbrow in the 50"s and the 60"s. This was a fabulous cosmopolitan place with nightclubs bistros, cafes two movie theatres clean streets, hotels. I wanted to go back and look in 1989 and my brother wouldn't take me there he said it was too dangerous and it would make me sad. Now I had to look at this. I am speechless. I always told my American children that one day we would go back to see where the African grew up. Ja right, it's Gone With The wind how sad. How can a people, any people do this?? Jasmine Ogden Richards
does this one sided view of life make you and the many who have appreciated your comments noble wonderful people. get a life man you have completely NO idea what its like to live and grow up without running water, education or basic living requirements. would you do better??? i dont think so. we white people left a mess in south africa, a huge mess by not educating 80% of the people by not allowing them human rights, now the trouble strats but blame veryone else. you are a coward
I have always felt that Hillbrow is one of the great tragedies of my life. I spent many a year there and would probably have lived there still if it remained as it was then.
I am now running a very successful business in the US but would never have come here if things did not change so badly in SA.
I have many emotions when I see these pictures but the strongest is one of profound sadness and loss.
i grew up in johannesburg. walked all those areas a loved them. moved to the usa in 1976 and been a texan for 30 years. at the back of my mind there was always a hope of return even tho i realized that is was slim. now i see it totally slipping (slipped) away. i knew my decision to leave was correct but i was so excited when there was a transfer of power without bloodshed. i was so optimistic because i really thought it could happen. i am dismayed that the powers that be in south africa have totally blown it. surely they could have looked at recent history in africa and had more sense. greed and ego have ruined a wonderful opportunity.
You must spend a huge amount of time on this website. Maybe you should spend it more productively seeing as how you feel so strongly about
I know it doesn't look like that everywhere, but that is not the problem. The problem is that it is spreading and the DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED gov't won't do anything about it. We didn't always have money as a family, but even when we didn't, we didn't resort to living like pigs. How can ANY human allow the area that they call home deteriorate that much???
A while back I had much experience working and travelling throughout Africa as part of my job.
What I have come to understand about Africans is that they are collectively and individually a Tribal People. What this means essentially is that there are leaders and they have their minions. The leaders get all the wealth, women, cattle etc and the rest of the tribe subsists on very little. Nothing has changed - Sure they wear suits and run business's but the culture of tribalism is still they way the conduct business. The corruption is learnt from those at the top and becomes endemic to the whole country.
Kenya has had 30/40 yrs of independance the same with other African countries that were once sparkling and thriving albeit they were colonies but since gaining their independance they have slid inexorably towards poverty and starvation. All promulgated by the corrupt leaders of those respective nations.
IT will not change in Africa no matter how much I want or wish or believe in the better part of human nature or education.
My Name is Michelle and just looking at all this does make me so sad because SA is still and was way back then a beautiful country but the way things are going we are going down fast can't these guys see what they are doing to this country they wanted freedom they now have it lets work together build this country up not break it down do we really want to be like Zimbabwe can't these guys see that if thats the case they will all suffer my maid says daily please don't let it happen here what happended in Zim we will all suffer not just the whites but the blacks too lets work together stop fighting being negative lets make this country the best because I still feel SA is a beautiful country but we need to start with immediate effect otherwise we are going one way and thats backwards we don't want a Zimbabwe here in SA Come on guys!!!
white people have to invest more in these areas. so why dont they do just that! when the level of welfare for these blacks declines any further, the whites will be held responsible. and then....not only white farmers will be killed. something to consider. i'm from holland and see this pictures for the first time. really sad.
I could send you pictures of run down area's in cities around the world.
Maybe you travel and see these places for yourself might chage your attitude to south africa.
Newport wales is one place I can think of.
I would like to see these pics in a higher resolution too
I think anyone with half a brain can see for themselves that it is not just Hillbrow that looks like a complete slum area but most areas including the so called good suburbs are also constantly littered with rubbish and it is obvious that they are not being maintained. My mother moved from Durban to live in Hillbrow on her own when she was only 17 years old, and it is unbelievebly sad for people who grew up in Hillbrow which was once a cosmopolitan, thriving city with an abundance of nightlife and ambience, to see what it is now. Being poor is not an excuse for trashing the small amount of property that you do have access to, but it seems to pretty much be the staple excuse for everything these days. My mom grew up poor, many days having nothing to eat but they didn't steal or brutally murder, they just made do with what they had and got through it. I would also like to comment on the sky news team who flew all the way out to S.A to do a feature on the poor 'train surfers' who are so bored and underpriveleged they have to ride on top of the trains and get killed by power lines for fun. Shame! PIty they are too lazy to go out and get a job, any job even if they dont have the quailifications. If they can send a crew out to cover a pathetic story like that then why cant they send a crew to cover the violent crime in SA? I appeal to people to take a stand and send an e mail to sky news highlighting the fact that we have far more serious problems in this country , and the rest of the world should be made aware.
This is a comment in response to Mr Holland.
You say 'white' people need to invest in these areas.
Dont you think a lot of 'white' people had homes, families and jobs in these areas. And why dont you take a minute and think why they have all left!!
Unfortunately, the birth of the New South Africa came at a great cost, to all who lived there and all that still do.
Shooting and stabbing have become a common affair, not to mention rape and torture. The stories you hear along the grape vine, they dont make the news otherwise the broadcast would be on 24/7. It happens every where and ofcourse it is sad but in theses so called areas you want 'whites' to invest in, crime is at its worst. Would you want to live in a suburb where you are not only scared to leave your house but scared to actually live in it. Terrified your wife will be tortured and your daughter raped in front of your eyes. And then comes your turn...... Would you want to live in a suburb like that, that is a story the pictures can not tell you, but if they had a voice they would. Would you invest in an area like that?????
I dont think so. You dont know the half of it.
In response to anonymous....Newport Wales.
Obviously there are many countries through out the world that have cities with run down areas.
But just because there are does that make what South Africa has become okay, Ja man no worries you think Berea is bad you should check out Newport. Both may be as devastating as the other, or one worse off than the other BUT that does not make it acceptable.
What is happening is still terrible and heartbreaking for those who are South African.
This website is about South Africa, if you do not want to read about it or look at the pictures than use your time more constructively.
The voortrekkers hey, before they moved in you say these people lived in kraals.
Well dear, the land was theirs to do with it what they pleased after all they got there first.
Im sure they could have lived with out the wheel. They were nomads, maybe you should look that up.
They used the land they lived on, benefiting from the natural resources it had to offer. They did not polute the air or ruin the land.
That was left up to the voortrekkers.
You racist pig!
You say your family did not always have money but you never lived like pigs.
Well if you lived in an area where every single person you knew had either been held at gun point, high jacked, raped, murdered, beaten up and shot at. Would you not want to leave the area you lived in or even the country you called home. Some people had to flea, maybe you should read the blog below the pictures of the BP service station!
These buildings were left vacant, abandoned, not sold. Squaters move in and live there as best they can. Most have no money so how may I ask do you propose they live????
Zippo, is it in your genes or in your culture to be a judgemental, racist and culturally egocentric pig?
I wish Alan Paton was here still. Then could have a real reason ro write "Cry my Beloved Country"!
Caron yes blame it on apartheid, but do you know that apartheid was demolished more than 25 years ago and 100% of the destroyers was not even born back then and education was in there reach but they prevered the streets of Hillbrow and they all grew up with running water
Hey, why don't you pray about it to your god, he will fix it all with his great and mighty miracles, won't he?
I used to live there.
R.I.P Hillbrow.
It's so sad to see what has happened to Hillbrow, where I spent a good portion of my 20's.
What's even sadder is reading some of these idiotic, denialist posts with bullshit like 'Every place has slums like Hillbrow' or 'Every place has crime', or the poltically correct idiocy 'The Blacks were there first, it's their country to ruin.'
Every place does have crime - yes -but not with the per capita consistency and savagery that is peculiar to South Africa.
I live in New York and there are NO slums like those pictured on this blog here in NYC. Non at all.
Exactly the opposite - the city is regenerating, and whatever crime there is here is quickly squashed by the NYPD, one of the finest police depts on the planet.
The politically incorrect conclusion? Blacks in Africa can't run their own countries without them being flushed down the toilet of ineptitude, famine, corruption and mass murder.
The fact that there were blacks in South Africa first is inconsequential - contrary to PC myth, all land is not owned collectively, by virtue of birth, but rather by the pioneers and innovators that would develop and utilize that land for the betterment of all.
Before the arrival of white settlers, South Africa's development consisted of tribes at war with one another, their existences dictated by witchdoctors - oh wait - that's howe they live now.
move to Sweden!
I emigrated to South Africa in 1975. I was in my mid 20's and arrived with a wife and two babies under school age. Our first month was spent in a "residential Hotel" - the El-Kero in Pietersen Street, just off Claim Street, within walking distance of HighPoint. Most of the residents in the hotel were retired people living on pensions who had decided to spend their golden years in the relative comfort of a small hotel where everything was provided, at an afordable price. While I was at work my wife walked to the shops in HighPoint with the two childen in tow. We all felt safe. After the first month we moved to "flatland" - close to Windsor Park in Randburg where there was a happy, safe, cosmopolitan community. Flat dwellers like us didn't have a lot of money but we did have pride in our neighbourhood. The streets were clean, litter was deposited in rubish bins and it was a safe place to live. Like most immigrants we arrived with nothing more than we could carry, and very little money. For the first few months we had no furniture, we managed to find a second hand single bed for the children to share, while my wife and I slept on an air bed. Our table was a tomatoe box and our chairs - we sat on the floor. That was more than 30 years ago. Today I live in large house in an upmarket suburb. My children left the country forever 10 years ago because of the increase in crime - especially muggings and hijackings. I have seen my grandson once and my granddaughter twice. Everyday either my wife or I collect a mountain of litter from in front of my house, but it makes no difference because every bluegum that walks past or alights from a taxi drops litter, even though there are litter bins at regular intervals along the road. Randburg was one of the first municipalities to go ANC, and I have watched the town centre descend from a vibrant clean first world city to be proud of, to a squalid third world dirty street market slum to be ashamed of. It is not just Hillbrow that is in decay. It is not just Johannesburg City Centre that is dying. It is more obvious there because there are more bluegums per square kilometre, but the rot is everywhere. We once had parks with well kept gardens and lawns where children played, now they are deserted, overgrown and occupied by squatters. I've had enough. By the end of the year I'll sell up and move back to the UK with very little to show for more than 30 years of my adult life invested here.
Hi,
I used to live in RSA (Jo`burg and CT) when I was a kid - back then it was the most beautiful country I`ve ever been to. Later (early 80ies) we moved to Nigeria (Lagos), and guess what: It looked just like Jo`burg today.
Somehow they are really good in turning everything good into a big piece shit - just look at Rhodesia, Angola, Mozambique etc. etc. etc.
Alles van die beste
Tom
These are the proverbial Biblical Beasts of the Field, so this is normal all over the world.
I am a senior academic at RAU (University of Johannesburg). I am GLAD that people still have the GUTS in this country to show that they will not ACCEPT THE DISGUST AND DECLINE. This relates to all South African's who has refused to "just accept" crime and deterioration (usually urged on by the ones that say: "...c'mon, don't be so negative...!"). To me those are people that want us to just accept what is happening, and "adapt". I was not brought up that way, I am not that type of person.
Congratulations to this website.
Although it is not a pleasure to see the deterioration of anything, it gives me hope that I am not the only one which is saddened by this.
Navinating at random in Internet, one night I find Hillbrow, the streets I was walking in the year 1970. And yep, you must give high-resolution pics of everything. South Africa is the forgotten land in the World, I realize. At most, some know that the Black People are now democratic and free, presumably well educated, nice to the Whites and singing all time.
"Hillbrow is now an absolute hellhole but EVERY city in every country in the world has its own Hillbrow. This isn't anything special or specific to SA"
the closest london has is brixton and that PALES in comparrison to this place
most cities have bad areas but none that arent in a war zone
are THIS bad
compton maybe in LA
nope sorry maat its not nearly this bad
ok how about the bronx in NY
nah sorry again even that isnt this bad
look at most european cities nothing looks like this that isnt in iraq etc
maybe its due to the whites handing power to a group of people who have
1 never had power before
2 have an ass backwards culture
3 not sure where there next meal is coming from
4 prepared to do the absolute worst to get what they want because thats all they know
i think its time for us brits to come back and run SA
they obviously cant run it on their own
Can you tell me how you manage to get these pictures. I lived in this area in the 80's and would dearly love to see some apartments I stayed in at the time.
i mould like to say i was a greek imigrant born in RSA. have the verry best memories from johannesburg.left at the age of 7. i couldn't recognise many sites from your pictures but showing them to my mother, she could hardly believe what she saw. she lived there for almost 25 years and never believed hillbrow would end up like that.
My God all you liberal white blamers and don't you have anything better to doers make me sick! I've read repeatedly as liberals state the cause of the decline as being due to 'the blacks couldn't get an education' under apartheid - well, then, please explain the exact same problem we have with blacks in the USA where education is free and open (and has been for MANY years) to all??????
Caron said
>>>...you have completely NO idea what its like to live and grow up without running water, education or basic living requirements. Would you do better??? I don’t think so. White people left a mess in south Africa, a huge mess by not educating 80% of the people by not allowing them human rights,<<<
As a matter of fact Caron, white people did do just that in other places, and the result is the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Also, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Malaya all colonies, all thriving, all hardworking, clean and healthy places where people are happy. (Apart from the black neighborhoods strangely enough!)
As for leaving a mess in SA. er...no, whites left a thriving efficient country. Admittedly, SA was still suffering from years of sanctions imposed by foreign Marxists in order to destroy the Capitalist infrastructure and replace it with that Oh so successful Marxist economic system.
Blacks have been given so much for so long and still they fail to achieve, why is that Caron? How many wells and clinics do we need to build them, how many tractors do we have to keep sending them? Why can't they learn? Look at just one example of a former Colony, let’s take Singapore. Yes Singapore, that bustling, gleaming jewel in the Far East, a tiny overpopulated speck on the map, but populated with hardworking, intelligent people. It was a sandals and trinket economy just a few decades ago. Now these good folks are not white, but they seem to be doing just fine, even after having endured COLONIALISM UNDER WHITE OPPRESSORS!!! Oh my, the horror!
Lack of education is keeping SA Blacks down. Well yes and no Caron. Historically Blacks most definitely were educated within their attainment level which is about IQ 75 according to all available evidence. Prior to the whites arrival in SA, (about the same time as the Northern Bantus arrived, it wasn't their land) the education system was a tad less advanced. But moving forward to the Apartheid era, for many years Black children were forbidden to attend school by their Marxist overlords in order to protest the system that kept them apart from Whites. Take a look at the pictures again Caron, Hillbrow, or any image from the CBJ in Jo'burg and ask yourself, why would Whites want to live separately from Blacks; any ideas Caron, any at all? Why do Whites, Asians, and Orientals all want to live apart from Blacks?
btw, would you like to live amongst these people Caron? How long do you think you'd last?
I used to be stationed at Hillbrow SAP through the mid 80's into the early 90s and lived in the area. I am truly shocked by the pics and can't believe how bad the area is. Hillbrow was described as amelting pot for South African culture, in the late 80s it was a so called "grey area" and now look at it a slum
I really cant say who's fault it is for Hillbrow - once being a beautiful peaceful neighbourhood ending up like this.
What I do know is that it wasn't like that some time back. It's not our job to show fingers.
But if you stare the fact right in the face:
1. Illegal immegrants trying to make a living selling drugs
2. A currupt legal system and one that clearly doesnt work.
3. People that are behaving like animals and destroying everyting for what reason?
Is it because of anger? As if its is going to change anything!
Yes and I'm not a racist, but it seems like this culture differences is the cause of all this.We like having nice things and try to keep thing beautiful while some people don't care - they just want to eat, break stuff and sleep.- lets be honest - the majority is from other cultures - including illegal immagrants selling drugs to our children
In the same breath i say that there are people from all cultures that wants a safe environment for themselves and their children. Some of my best friends are from other cultures and they totally agree with me -
Whey do someone want to do this to a jewel?It makes me sick - maybe they should lock al the people up in Hillbrow they can find and keep them in jail for ananalyses to see who is on drugs - braindead and pshycopaths!
Normal human beings wont do this!
Hi, higher resolution please and thank you for demonstrating the TRUTH. I agree with everyone who said that this is a consequence of black people living there - they do have a "gift" for destruction. We should not play along!!!
Oh my god this is extremely sad. I am from Argentina and have never been in South Africa. I have a 90s book for travellers that depicts Johannesburg as a exciting place to visit. I wonder how Capetown is now.
looks like a lovely place to visit. Might go one day and sus out a place for retirement. thanks for posting!
First time "I took a girl to the movies" was at Kine centre Hillbrow. I remember when the decay started and the place closed how disheartened I was. Then it became known that you couldn't walk there at night. Afterwards told to not get out of the car. Lastly that you shouldn't drive past there. Was it Johannes Kerkorrel that wrote a ballad to it and ended up committing suicide.
I left South Africa in 1997- and revisited in 2000, 2001,2002,2003 and 2005. As you can see my love affair with my home country slowly came to an end as I observed the decline into chaos and anarchy. Johannesburg is a symbol of this anarchy as far as I am concerned and as much as South Africans try to bury their heads in the sand (we are great at doing this) they cannot deny this. Yes a very sad and pitiful state of affairs.
I studied at Wits in early 90s. I remember walking from Braamfontein to Hillbrow on weekends to the famous clubs like Bella Napoli, The doors a bit south Etc. I drove through Hillbrow a few years ago, and there is nothing left of these sites. The doors, ironically, does not have a front door, no paint. So sad. Now living overseas, and better to remember it the way it used to be.
I lived in SA from 1971 to 1986, and i was seriously considering of moving back again. All i have is good memories of this wonderfull country, i owe a lot of my success to the foundations that were imparted in me for the rest of my life. However (as "racist" as i may sound) it was a common secret that if blacks were to rule the country , they would tear it appart and destroy it, and i am sad to say, that these pictures in here are good proof of it. I have walked, cycled, rode a motorcycle, and drove in ALL those streets, and it broke my heart to see the ruins that they have turned them into. We had immigrated from a poor country in Europe, but we KNEW even then, that beeing poor, is NOT an excuse , to steal , kill, rape and destroy property, buildings and neiborhoods, instead it should be an excuse for hard honest work, so that you can create a future for your childern and grandchildren.I may not sound liberal, you might even think i am all for apartheit, thats not the case. I beleive that a man should be free, but his freedom should not destroy another mans work and effort. 12 years of so called "freedom" have pulled an entire nation , and generations to come 100 yrs back. Is that the kind of freedom Mr Nelson Mandela was talking about ? Was that the "free nation" , "one man one vote" he was proclaiming? i wonder.....
Been out of the country for 22 years and im so sad to see my birthplace in ruins . So, so , very sad
Hillbrow was once such a lovely area. The restaurants on Rockey Street were vibrant and cosmopolitan, the ones on Pretoria Street too. Three Sisters Café was the high point of any evening. I remember fondly Exclusive Books (despite its politics), the surrounding clubs, meeting friends in the lobby of the Harrison Reef Hotel on the corner of Pretoria and Twist Streets. Nearby Yeoville's faded art deco buildings. I remember the Parnell's fabric shop in Hillbrow, and other colorful, eclectic businesses. I remember The Lloyd Hotel on Paul Nel Street, and the surrounding staid pensioner hotels where retirees thought they would settle in for a quiet retirement in one of the city's cultural centers. Some of the newer buildings in Hillbrow were sleek and hip looking and the best any Western city could offer. There was individualism, beauty, order, prosperity, cleanliness, safety, and culture. All now gone. It is presently a Third World dung heap, engulfed by Third Worlders and dysfunction arriving from all over the African continent.
How green was our valley, at one time. And I can feel in my bones these images presage the future of the West. We are collectively in the process of discarding our birthright, the things that would not have existed without our ancestors' labor. In the end we will end up leaving ourselves with nothing.
These photo images are not merely pictures of pockets of misery and blight and social disintegration. They are images of the future our children will be trapped in.
In the end, it would have been better to have resisted all of this; there is a certain dignity in going down with a fight.
Instead, we have been so thoroughly vanquished.
Of course, in resisting, the final scenario would have been millions of blood-spattered whites fleeing to the coastal cities, hoping, probably erroneously, for evacuation assistance from Western nations.
But that's how it will all end anyway.
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