Day 24
I took a tour today with Voyo, a guide from Jozi Experience, a company that runs individual trips through Johannesburg. He picked me up this morning at my guesthouse and we headed first for Constitution Hill, the site of the city's main prison during the apartheid regime. Just about every political prisoner (black and white) in the area passed through the jail at some point during the 1970s and 1980s. The jail is shut now and has been redeveloped into the country's supreme constitutional court.
From there we crossed the Nelson Mandela Bridge, which connects the up-and-coming area of Newtown with the Braamfontein area, home to the University of the Witwatersrand. Per Voyo, Newtown is becoming the neighborhood of choice for students, and there seemed to be a lot of new apartments and commercial construction happening there. The bridge itself crosses the railyards north of the city and has a great view of the downtown skyline.
We then headed into Joburg's much-maligned central business district for a trip to the top of the Carlton Centre, Africa's tallest building. Most multi-national companies fled the CBD for the suburbs in the early 1990s and for much of the last 15 years, it's been synonymous with crime and chaos. In the last five years or so, however, it's begun to turn around, and some companies have even moved their offices back, in order to take advantage of cheaper rents. The contrast between the glass-and-steel skyscrapers of the 1980s and the street-level craziness of vendors and traffic was very real - there's no forgetting the fact this is an African city, even if the previous government tried to pretend it wasn't. The CBD still has a ways to go, but the streets are generally trash-free and daytime crime has dropped significantly. And the view from the Carlton Centre was pretty outstanding, too.
From the CBD we drove north through a series of neighborhoods and a microcosm of present-day South African society. We passed through Hillbrow, a high-rise suburb that is one of the most densely populated areas in Africa. During the 1980s Hillbrow was South Africa's first 'gray area' where whites and blacks were permitted to live together and was viewed as the most forward and cosmopolitan place in the country. Sadly, today it's degenerated into one of the country's worst slums, and the high-rise apartments have their windows smashed out and show evidence of fires. Just a few minutes later we passed through the leafy and very wealthy areas of Parktown and Rosebank, where some of the nation's most powerful business and political figures live.
Finally we arrived in Alexandra, one of the city's townships. Unlike some of the better-known black townships in Johannesburg (think Soweto) Alexandra was never really planned by the apartheid government - it just sprung up informally and was allowed to stay, even though it's a stone's throw from extremely upscale neighborhoods. It was like entering a different country - goats and chickens in the streets, flimsy shacks made from wood and corrugated steel, people everywhere. Voyo explained that Alexandra is most inhabited by migrants from neighboring countries like Zimbabwe and Mozambique, which is why it remains poorer and more depressed than Soweto, which is mostly comprised of South African citizens whose living standards have skyrocketed in the last two decades.
After driving all over town and becoming more familiar with the city, this doesn't seem like such a scary place. Does that mean I can go for a walk at night by myself? No way. The electric fences, barbed wire and CCTV cameras still have their purpose. And going somewhere like Alexandra on my own is probably a poor choice. But it's not the crime-ridden nightmare it's made out to be, either.
Today I'm in: Johannesburg, South Africa
Johannesburg, Joburg, Jozi, Mzansi... everyone's got a different name for this city. Whatever you call it, I learned today it's not as scary of a place as I initially thought.
I took a tour today with Voyo, a guide from Jozi Experience, a company that runs individual trips through Johannesburg. He picked me up this morning at my guesthouse and we headed first for Constitution Hill, the site of the city's main prison during the apartheid regime. Just about every political prisoner (black and white) in the area passed through the jail at some point during the 1970s and 1980s. The jail is shut now and has been redeveloped into the country's supreme constitutional court. 
From there we crossed the Nelson Mandela Bridge, which connects the up-and-coming area of Newtown with the Braamfontein area, home to the University of the Witwatersrand. Per Voyo, Newtown is becoming the neighborhood of choice for students, and there seemed to be a lot of new apartments and commercial construction happening there. The bridge itself crosses the railyards north of the city and has a great view of the downtown skyline. 
We then headed into Joburg's much-maligned central business district for a trip to the top of the Carlton Centre, Africa's tallest building. Most multi-national companies fled the CBD for the suburbs in the early 1990s and for much of the last 15 years, it's been synonymous with crime and chaos. In the last five years or so, however, it's begun to turn around, and some companies have even moved their offices back, in order to take advantage of cheaper rents. The contrast between the glass-and-steel skyscrapers of the 1980s and the street-level craziness of vendors and traffic was very real - there's no forgetting the fact this is an African city, even if the previous government tried to pretend it wasn't. The CBD still has a ways to go, but the streets are generally trash-free and daytime crime has dropped significantly. And the view from the Carlton Centre was pretty outstanding, too. 
From the CBD we drove north through a series of neighborhoods and a microcosm of present-day South African society. We passed through Hillbrow, a high-rise suburb that is one of the most densely populated areas in Africa. During the 1980s Hillbrow was South Africa's first 'gray area' where whites and blacks were permitted to live together and was viewed as the most forward and cosmopolitan place in the country. Sadly, today it's degenerated into one of the country's worst slums, and the high-rise apartments have their windows smashed out and show evidence of fires. Just a few minutes later we passed through the leafy and very wealthy areas of Parktown and Rosebank, where some of the nation's most powerful business and political figures live.
Finally we arrived in Alexandra, one of the city's townships. Unlike some of the better-known black townships in Johannesburg (think Soweto) Alexandra was never really planned by the apartheid government - it just sprung up informally and was allowed to stay, even though it's a stone's throw from extremely upscale neighborhoods. It was like entering a different country - goats and chickens in the streets, flimsy shacks made from wood and corrugated steel, people everywhere. Voyo explained that Alexandra is most inhabited by migrants from neighboring countries like Zimbabwe and Mozambique, which is why it remains poorer and more depressed than Soweto, which is mostly comprised of South African citizens whose living standards have skyrocketed in the last two decades.
We finished up with a trip to the Apartheid Museum in southern Johannesburg, which is very nicely done. Visitors are randomly assigned a race (I was 'colored') and forced to use specific entrances and toilets while in the museum. In general, the museum lays out the origination, development and defeat of apartheid in a very balanced and non-accusatory way. The overall message is that the country is moving forward and not dwelling on the past (although certain agitators in the current government seem like they haven't gotten the message.)
After driving all over town and becoming more familiar with the city, this doesn't seem like such a scary place. Does that mean I can go for a walk at night by myself? No way. The electric fences, barbed wire and CCTV cameras still have their purpose. And going somewhere like Alexandra on my own is probably a poor choice. But it's not the crime-ridden nightmare it's made out to be, either. 
No comments:
Post a Comment