Johannesburg: A City of Streets, Struggles, and Stories
Johannesburg is not a city you simply visit — it’s a city you feel. Every corner pulses with resistance, rhythm, and revival. On my first day exploring the City of Gold, I hopped on a vibrant tuk-tuk tour that zigzagged through history and culture, from colonial courtrooms to street art havens and soulful township kitchens. Here’s how the day unfolded:
1. Constitutional Hill: A Fortress of Freedom and Former Oppression
Our journey began at Constitution Hill, once a colonial-era prison and military fort. It held South Africa’s most iconic political prisoners — including Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi — during British rule and apartheid. But today, it's home to the Constitutional Court, symbolizing the country’s hard-won democracy.
🏛 Colonial Roots and the Fight for Gold
Johannesburg’s very existence is tied to colonial conflict. When gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand in 1886, the Dutch-descended Boers (Afrikaners) and the British Empire clashed to control this new economic prize. The result? The Anglo-Boer Wars (1880–1881, 1899–1902), fought partly over the lucrative gold mining industry. The British eventually took control, establishing Johannesburg as a hub for mining and finance — but also racial segregation and urban inequality that would later shape apartheid policies.
2. Downtown Johannesburg: The Economic Engine
Next, we cruised into Downtown Joburg, the city’s original commercial heart. Once the epicenter of South Africa’s gold economy, these streets are a mix of historical banks, bustling taxi ranks, and art deco buildings. Over time, urban sprawl and white flight during apartheid pushed businesses and affluent communities to the northern suburbs, leaving downtown in decay. But today, urban regeneration efforts are slowly bringing it back, with creative entrepreneurs reclaiming abandoned buildings and injecting life back into the inner city. The Urban Dualism is apparent where decaying infrastructure coexists with entrepreneurial vibrancy. The area remains densely populated, with over 15,000 people/km², largely comprising internal migrants and foreign nationals (especially from Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Mozambique), many occupying hijacked or under-regulated buildings. Transition City vibes.
Once an elite white neighbourhood during apartheid, Hillbrow is now one of Johannesburg’s most densely populated areas (over 68,000 people/km²), known for high-rise decay, transnational migrant communities, and complex informal economies. Hillbrow illustrates “territorial stigmatization”, where certain districts are institutionally marginalized, reducing public investment and reinforcing cycles of poverty.
The Hillbrow "Golden Age" (1930s-1970s) Establishment
Hillbrow emerged as a desirable, high-density residential area for Johannesburg's white, often immigrant, population. It was a cosmopolitan hub with a vibrant social scene, cafés, and a prominent Jewish community.
Ponte City's Birth (1975)
The pinnacle of this era was the completion of Ponte City Apartments. Architects Mannie Feldman, Manfred Hermer, and Rodney Grosskopff designed the unique cylindrical skyscraper. Its distinctive "toilet roll" shape was a direct response to a local regulation that required windows for light and ventilation in every kitchen and bathroom. This design created a hollow, open central void to serve this purpose. The name "Ponte" is Latin for "bridge," symbolizing a bridge between heaven and earth, reflecting the building's prestige at the time.
Apartheid and "Dompas": Despite being a white-only area under the Group Areas Act, the reality was more complex. The "dompas," or passbook, was a hated symbol of apartheid, and for Black people, it served as a document that controlled their movement and presence in areas like Hillbrow. They could only be in the area for employment, which meant they were a visible part of the neighborhood during the day but were forced to leave at night.
The Decline and "White Flight" (Late 1970s-1990s)
Social Change and Investment Freeze (1980s): The beginning of the end for Hillbrow's golden age came as the government started to lose its grip on enforcing the Group Areas Act. Hillbrow became a "grey area" where people of different races began to live together. This led to a significant exodus of the white middle class, a phenomenon known as "white flight." Economic Collapse: In response to these changes, financial institutions and investors effectively "plugged out." Home loans, house sales, and investment in maintenance and civil services were all but banned, leading to a rapid decline in property values and the physical decay of the neighborhood. The government also banned all new investments in the area. Ponte's Plight: Ponte City, once a symbol of luxury, was severely impacted. As tenants left, building maintenance was neglected, and the central core of the building began to fill with several stories of trash and debris. The building became a microcosm of Hillbrow's urban decay.
Post-Apartheid and the Plight of Modern Hillbrow (1990s-Present)
Migration and Overcrowding : The end of apartheid brought a massive influx of migrants and refugees from other African countries, drawn by the promise of opportunity. This led to extreme overcrowding in the neglected buildings. The practice of "hijacked buildings" became common, where criminal gangs would take over properties and illegally collect rent.
Financial Exploitation : A hijacked building with 200 residents paying an estimated ZAR 600 per month. This generates an estimated ZAR 120,000 per month in illicit income for the hijackers. In contrast, a well-managed building like Ponte offers a studio for ZAR 3000 and a two-bedroom apartment for ZAR 8500, reflecting the stark contrast between legal and hijacked housing.
Extreme Living Conditions : The living conditions in hijacked buildings are often dire. The information details the reality: people paying ZAR 1000 for a balcony to sleep on, and beds are often rented out for multiple shifts a day, 8h or 12h. "Small" bedrooms are often shared by many people, "Full" bedroom means no sharing. These listings are found on makeshift bulletin "gumtree" where gums are used to paste leaflets.
Crime and Social Ills : Hillbrow became synonymous with a high crime rate, prostitution, and drug abuse. The neighborhood is a major hub for drugs, with prices as low as ZAR 50 per packet of "nyaope", also called "whoonga", which is a mixture of heroin, rat poison, and weed. The phrase "swazilian weed" suggests the prevalence of cannabis from neighboring countries. Drug abuse is seen in corners as we walked the street. Often, a group of people would share needles to share the "effects" of the drugs without buying the drugs to save cost. Prostitution is rampant, with prices starting from as little as ZAR 50 for five minutes for unregulated services. The "Summit Club" started as a prestige club but became a stripclub, prostitution here was ZAR 400 for 5 minutes because the rental for the ladies were ZAR 500 a day, but regulations and checkups are mandatory here.
The "Red Ants" and Urban Renewal : The government's response has been to use private eviction companies like the "Red Ants" to clear out hijacked buildings. While this is an attempt to restore law and order, their often brutal methods have been widely criticized for their impact on the poor and homeless. Ponte City's Second Life: Despite the surrounding challenges, Ponte City has undergone a remarkable transformation. Following years of being a slum, it was eventually refurbished by its owners. While a larger "New Ponte" project was canceled due to the 2008 financial crisis, the building was cleaned and re-purposed. It is now a privately managed apartment complex with security and a diverse mix of residents, offering a managed, secure, albeit expensive, living option in the inner city. Ponte Advertising: A testament to its renewal and a source of significant income, the iconic advertising space on top of the tower has been a consistent feature. The cost of this advertising has changed dramatically over time, from a reported ZAR 70,000 per month for Coke in the 2000s to ZAR 500,000 per month for Vodacom in 2025, reflecting the building's reclaimed prominence and desirability.
While it still was stigmatized for being dangerous, the locals took it on their own hands. The term "necklacing by Vimba" refers to a brutal form of mob justice and extrajudicial punishment, where a tire is placed around a victim's neck, doused in petrol, and set alight. Therefore, contrary to popular believe, it became one of the safest place to go where you know there is a solution to crime, and its communal effort.
3. Newtown and Victoria Yards: Reviving Creativity
We then headed west to Newtown, the city’s cultural district. This was once a hub for industry and transport, but now it pulses with performance venues, jazz clubs, and museums like the Museum Africa and Market Theatre, once dubbed "The Theatre of the Struggle" for its anti-apartheid plays.
At Victoria Yards, a former industrial complex has been transformed into a creative ecosystem. Local artisans, farmers, artists, and small businesses collaborate in shared spaces, redefining regeneration not as gentrification but community-based revival.
4. Braamfontein: Learning, Living, and Leaking Between Worlds
Further north, Braamfontein sits between worlds — formal and informal, student and worker, corporate and streetwise. Home to the University of the Witwatersrand, the area buzzes with student life. Adjacent to it is Braampark, a cluster of office buildings and commercial services. The area caters more to corporate functions, with higher-income flows but limited residential identity. Yet, its proximity to transitional spaces (including Park Station and lower-income transport corridors) makes it a threshold zone — straddling formal and informal networks.
Here, we saw how migration from rural provinces and neighboring countries fuels an ever-changing urban demographic. Communities constantly evolve — kids in school uniforms pass by vendors selling amagwinya (vetkoek), and young migrants use art and hustle to carve out opportunity in the city.
5. Maboneng: Where the Streets Talk Back
Ah, Maboneng — the "Place of Light." Once a no-go zone, Maboneng is now Johannesburg’s arts-and-culture playground. Young South Africans, global nomads, and creative entrepreneurs have transformed this part of the city into a living gallery. Walls explode with street art, from politically charged murals to vibrant afro-futurist pieces. Maboneng’s appeal lies in its authenticity. You’re just as likely to stumble across a fashion pop-up as a poetry slam. It's become a canvas for reclaiming public space, where the youth take ownership of their narrative in post-apartheid South Africa. This is such a hipster enclave, where the street talk back, like Robert Florida's Creative Class Theory, meaning younger generation expresses their hardships through different mediums but as a result attracted economic growth with the right factors of Technology, Talent, and Tolerance. I came back in the night for Food Tour and Jazz Club
6. Soweto: The Soul of the Struggle
No visit to Johannesburg is complete without Soweto — a township forged by fire and resilience. Under apartheid, Black South Africans were forcibly relocated here, far from the city center, to serve as labor but remain segregated.
🏠 Tutu House and Mandela House
We visited Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s modest home and Nelson Mandela’s former residence on Vilakazi Street — the only street in the world that has housed two Nobel Peace Prize winners. Their legacies of peace, justice, and forgiveness are etched into the pavement here.
📚 The 1976 Uprising and the Power of Youth
Perhaps the most emotionally charged moment was learning about the 1976 Soweto Uprising, when thousands of schoolchildren protested the enforcement of Afrikaans (Difficult Language) in schools. Hector Pieterson, just 12 years old, was shot by police — and his photo became a global symbol of apartheid’s brutality. The Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum stands today not just to mourn, but to inspire.
Housing Situation
Johannesburg’s housing and income disparities reveal stark spatial inequality, where low-income residents are priced out of formal housing and pushed into informal settlements. In Johannesburg, we see average monthly income from ZAR 2,500 to 5,000 in areas like Hillbrow and Soweto, or ZAR 4,000 to 6,000 in Downtown depending on the industry, thus access to decent housing remains limited as it would cost ZAR 900,000 for a 900 sqft apartment in the CBD. Therefore they are often pushed to the informal settlements options — ZAR 5,000 to 25,000 for a shack — but lack access to basic services and legal protection. Gentrified districts like Maboneng or semi-formal hubs like Braamfontein therefore fetches a better living opportunity of ZAR 6,000 - 8,000 a month, but not living in there as the apartments go for ZAR 1.5mil. From collectively self-managing hijacked buildings in the inner city, to erecting shacks on contested land, to transforming public walls into political canvases through street art, Johannesburg’s urban poor reclaim agency through everyday acts of defiance and resilience, what James Scott termed as "Weapon of the Weak" - subtle forms of resistance that reclaim agency in the absence of formal power.
7. Local Flavors: A Taste of the Land
To end the day, we feasted like locals. The food was bold, earthy, and deeply rooted in tradition:
Pap: A staple maize porridge, similar to polenta. Its name comes from the Dutch word for porridge — a colonial culinary legacy, now wholly African in identity.
Cow Head and Cow Lung: Known as smiley and mala mogodu, these are delicacies found in township shisanyamas (braai stalls). Eating nose-to-tail is both a tradition of respect and sustainability.
Bobotie: A Cape Malay classic — curried minced meat baked with an egg custard topping. A perfect metaphor for South Africa’s layered heritage — spicy, unexpected, and deeply comforting.
Shisa Nyama : Which literally means burnt meat in Zulu, is the term used in townships to describe where people make and serve the braais. Usually Shisa Nyama comes with alcohol, loud music and loads of braaied meat, usually fatty cuts to prevent it from drying out. I got one with Boerewors, which is the local sausage made up of spiced coarsely ground beef and pork and chakalaka - a spicy tomato, carrot and bean relish.
Conclusion: Johannesburg is a Story Still Being Written
From colonial forts to township murals, Johannesburg is not just a city — it’s a living archive. It holds the weight of trauma, the scars of segregation, and the rebellious spirit of youth. Yet it also offers something more powerful: the will to rewrite its story, on walls, in songs, and through food. As I rode back through the city’s cracked streets and high-rise hopes, I realized: Johannesburg doesn’t want to be pretty. It wants to be real. And that is what makes it unforgettable.
