Sunday, July 30, 2006

Joubert Park, Part III

All pictures taken from the Twist Street side.





60 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Typical. What can one expect, it happened in Angola and Mozambique, why not South Africa ? Its Africa !!!

1:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the mid-1970s, I used to live in a ground floor flat in the little 3-storey building in Twist Street, across the road from the park and on the northernern corner beside the railway line.
Bloody glad I don't live there now!

2:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i have a picture of my mother in joubert park. Circa 1969. Also, the blogger must get some photos of the Windybrow area. That area was a hiking trail through the city believe it or not. i remember the Doll House Road house restaurant there. I bet you its a crack whore house by now. i also remember 2 military tanks parked nearby as displays. they arent there anymore. Probably nicked by the Nigerians.

7:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i hate your site - you're clearly one of those real moaners that does nothing about it. THigns dont just happen like that... they become like that through circumstances. This area was already becoming decayed in the 80s - during the height of your apartheid governmet - i say your coz youre clearly a racist old school person.... WHy didnt they do something about it then. now todays government gets blamed for the pile of mess they have to try and rectify from the sins of your ancestors past. You should be ashamed of yourself. Why dont you rather emigrate and get out of here.

6:36 PM  
Blogger The Real Realist said...

Anonymous said...
i hate your site


Excellent, that means I have achieved my goal of pissing off mad liberals.

- you're clearly one of those real moaners that does nothing about it.

Oh no, My suggestion is not to 'do nothing" but to bugger off and leave the Turd World to stew in its own toilet.

THigns dont just happen like that... they become like that through circumstances.

Yes, and in this case the 'circumstances' are White Flight and their replacement with New South Africans.

This area was already becoming decayed in the 80s - during the height of your apartheid governmet

Well now you are talking out your arse, 'cos the 1980s was hardly the height of Apartheid, in fact it was the 1980s when it was being dismantled (Pass Laws abolished 1982; Mixed Marriages Act Abolished 1983, Group Areas Act unenforced since 1983 etc. etc.

But you are right in one sense: the phsyical destruction of Johannesburg did indeed start in the late 1980s, after the Group Areas Act was unenforced.

Now, I wonder what conclusion we can draw from that?

have to try and rectify from the sins of your ancestors past. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Oh I get it -- why didn't you say so from the very beginning, it's Whitey's fault that the CBD is now a toilet! Of course, silly me not to have seen that all along....

Nah, pull the other leg, it has bells on it.

8:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Touche!
A good riposte Real Realist.
Best,
MK

2:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

interestingly, opposite JOubert Park was the Drill Hall, Site of the first Rivonia Trail before being moved to the Synagogue in Paul Kruger st, Pretoria; What has happened to the Art Gallery, can one still visit it ?

9:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am shocked and HORRIFIED by these shots, I lived and worked in Joburg for 6 years, and called on OK Bazaars head office.I dont recognize the buildings anymore. Such a waste!

9:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In reply to:-
Anonymous said...
i hate your site - you're clearly one of those real moaners that does nothing about it. THigns dont just happen like that... they become like that through circumstances. This area was already becoming decayed in the 80s - during the height of your apartheid governmet - i say your coz youre clearly a racist old school person.... WHy didnt they do something about it then. now todays government gets blamed for the pile of mess they have to try and rectify from the sins of your ancestors past. You should be ashamed of yourself. Why dont you rather emigrate and get out of here.

6:36 PM

Isn't it absolutely amazing and a complete mystery, how EVERY area, in every town or city worldwide, that is habitated by blacks...is a complete and utter cesspool of filth, disease and poverty? I suppose it's the fault of the white folks again?!?

Why not take your hard earned cash and give some to the poor, taken advantage of blacks? I'm sure that you'll feel better. By the same token..isn't it about ime that the blacks began to help their own kind, instead of continuously demanding handouts from the whites?
Charity begins at home!

As for me? Well...I'll enjoy my trappings of luxury. I don't have one iota of guilt...as you do!
IF..and I say, IF... the blacks displayed ANY desire to uplift their standard in any way that was discernible...by way of cleanliness or pride...then I would be willing to help. Until then, to me, they represent an iron age civilisation, clad in modern garb!

Like many others, I honestly couldn't care two hoots about them. It certainly is not racism. It's the mere fact that I could never associate myself with people who act in the manner in which they do. Racism is based on bigotry and hatred...I am beyond that...I am totally indifferent to their self imposed situation!
They are a waste of energy & time!

Evolution will continue, with the blacks of the planet continually lagging 1000's of years behind.
THAT'S the realism of the matter!

As far as other poster's comments regarding, "What can we do?" It's quite simple. WE can do nothing. Nature takes care of the balance on her planet. Nature is purging her planet of the masses which pollute and destroy. What can we do? We can merely observe as Aids takes it toll on those who have bucked nature. We can merely take lessons from nature and learn not to fornicate with anything that breathes...or eat gorillas, chimps, etc.

"You sow what you reap!"

10:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Does anyone remember the club DV8 in the early 80's opposite Joubert Park also THE PALACE Chines restaurnt?

12:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well don't blame it only on the blacks all the citizens is to blame. I have just recently visit south africa and could hear the whites change they don't speak afrikaans anymore they are also mixing their language we have been overbroad for 5 years, gangesterism, poverty and just the mere fact that no one can't be bother. Yes you do get pissed off for some black asses sitting next to the road looking for work thousands on one spot. When one car stops 50 jumps up silly or maybe we are looking for someone to blame. From a christain perspective it looks like there is no HELL but we as humans will destroy earth as well as ourselves and this will be Hell well if that's the truth than i know what to do. So Whites don't blame it on the Blacks and blacks don't blame it on the whites but it's time to take hands and worked together as the rainbow nation and save your country. (and the kangaroo court can take hands and worked on those lazy black asses sitting on the corners looking for work and the same time rob and mugged other poeple just get them off the streets) South africans and their culture are still the best in the world. so it's time to stop slaughter cattle for celebrations, black it is there where, one learn to kill but in fact save the country. Will be back in South Africa after another 5 years. in the same breath one language for the nation teach every citizen to speak afrikaans ban xhosa and english bring in the death penalty "hang them by the neck but first by their balls". Still citizen of South Africa and loves every bit of it.

11:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anyone remember the giant chess set in the middle of Joubert Park where all races would compete...Even in the early 1970s there were blacks in this park playing chess.

ADK
Morristown NJ USA

12:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have not been back to SA for 10 years and am totally shocked! Shell house was across the road, I used to catch the bus there and visit my dad for lunch. I am also saddened by the nurses college, that's where my sister and I trained, all down the drain, just like the rest of Africa. I am so sad.

How lucky we all are that we were able to leave, bloody pleased to be gone.

6:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

During the 80's as a teenager I used to go into JHB city centre, catching the 74 bus from Linden with my friends to watch Saturday Matinee movies at the Collesseum.
Later on when I was older, I used to go with my friends into Hillbrow on a Saturaday afternoon to watch Clout, Ballyhoo and a band which I can't remember whose leader's name was Bernie, Guitarist Wally and sang 'She's a long legged lady who can be my woman tonight!' (Bernie was banned by the SABC as he showed his nipples on TV).
It was VERY safe fot teenagers to go into JHB day and night.We also used to go to Ciro's opposite Carlton Centre to watch the bands playing. I loved JHB City as it was so vibrant.
I moved to the UK in 2005 a shattered and broken man, disoulusioned by what had happened to my city. I am not politically motivated and I would NEVER be able to start my own business, but the City of my birth has become unlivable and unpleasant....WHY!

10:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

AIsh!!!! This is the story of Africa!!! I watched the same thing happen in Zambia and Zimbabwe. I'm Soooooo Heeeeppy to be living in Australia now Hauuu!!!

6:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have forwarded this to a friend in the UK who wants and cant wait to go back to SA... she may not beliving in JHB but like me she will remember the good old days when a women could walk at all hours through JHB, Hillbrow, Berea. As I young girl we hitchiked from Wembly Ice Rink to Norwood....any chance of that now..
maybe if I wanted to die and could not commite suicide....
If it was easier for South Africans to emigrate a lot more would...
I now thank God everyday that I have the option of living in the UK and I pray everday to God to protect my family still in SA...
Happy in the cold old UK

8:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow - what pictures...Im visiting SA in Dec (after 5 years )and am getting a little nervous about all this. Since having emigrated to Canada, both my brother in laws have been murdered, and they were the ones giving employment through their small business.

Canada Rocks !!

10:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It would be great if we can see see more 'then' pictures. Someone out there must have old pictures and or postcards. Then we can really compare .....

4:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As a person who was born in SA and has been back many times over the years, I have seen its dimise. However, some of these comments that blame its fall from grace strictly on the blacks cannot be further from the truth. Everyone knows that education and heritage are the biggest determinents of someone's socioeconomic status. If the black people of SA have been impovrished and have been deprived of an education that is equal to the white South Africians, then it is surely to reflect on their behavioiur. Decades of oppression and inequality have lead to this outcome. Had there never been a minority white government and a democratic society instead, there would have never been such an imbalance of power. Now, SA has gone from no power for the blacks, to them having all the power. There is no education to back up any of this newfound power. Education would lead to less babies, less crime etc. You're blaming the last 10 years on the blacks, but what about all those years of apartheid? It's retribution, and it was bound to happen one day. No one race should ever supress another in order to benefit themselves. That is clearly what SA did for the longest time. Had the white government lead the country the right way from the start, none of this would have happened. Own up to what they have done first, in order to truly see the truth of this matter. I don't think any South Africian is happy about what has happened to their homeland, but to blame it on the blacks is ludicris.

6:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very chilling photo's. I work in Braamfontein and have to walk in all that filth on an almost daily basis. How they plan on cleaning all that smut up before 2010 is beyond me. I'm all for upliftment and anyone who raises themselves above living like an animal wins my respect. If not, well, obviously i hate them.

8:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, my name is Greg, left the shit hole 10 years ago for a better life, and future for my kids. I would really like it if you could show us more pictures of what the Joubert park, or do they call it "demolished park" now, looks like inside.

1:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just me……
Silver fox, this person called “anonymous said”… clearly has a problem with life, you are clearly a person lost to whatever the hell goes on in reality. Not only do you live in a world that you believe to be “created” by the “evil of apartheid”, but you also seem to blame every one else for the misgivings that life in Africa bestowed.

“Why didn`t they do something about it”, who the hell is the “they” you are talking about? Let me guess ……….. aahhh that is right, the apartheid government, …. Yeah sounds good to me.

We were so wrong with apartheid, we want to apologise for building bridges, creating infrastructure, building a great country (that could be broken down), feeding millions, oh!.... and did we forget to mention the international business ……… ummm! To my knowledge, little things that create a great country, or so we thought until we were told we were wrong.

This is a great site, the blame of wishes suppresses reality

2:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Seems to have been a terrible mix-up somewhere: the old South Africa was a facist shit-hole where you got the crap beaten out of you if you sat on the laanie bench in Joubert Park.
It's much better now -- the park and the country.
Enjoy the buiteland guys. Can't be that bad. So try to cheer up a bit.

6:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a sad day when people are blaming one another and nobody is doing anything to solve the problems. The Blacks should forgive the Whites for the past and the Whites should forgive the Blacks for the present. Then South Africa would receive its' healing.

4:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Okay Drivia pursuit. Somone was asking about Bennie showing his tits.
Okay it was Bennie Millar of Circus fame. He later married Glenda of clout fame.Remember Clout paying at the basement of the Hotel President on debut.

THey have just released a hit some 30 odd years later.
The Victoria now more the Landrost no more the golden nugget no more the the President no more. Er the Railway Staion still there. Er you dont want to go there being a paleskin

2:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anomymous,

You are a plonker - "What else can I say"


"Anonymous said...
i hate your site - you're clearly one of those real moaners that does nothing about it. THigns dont just happen like that... they become like that through circumstances. This area was already becoming decayed in the 80s - during the height of your apartheid governmet - i say your coz youre clearly a racist old school person.... WHy didnt they do something about it then. now todays government gets blamed for the pile of mess they have to try and rectify from the sins of your ancestors past. You should be ashamed of yourself. Why dont you rather emigrate and get out of here. "

3:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can use sophistication and normal language to explain this...

It was the white government that lead SA to having a very competitive economy thus allowing education to flurish etc etc

Now bluntly who the hell are you to say its the white governments fault education has always benn provided and so on..

You need to get a life instead of wasting it and getting real people upset of what they see

2:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mmmmm very interesting this. I lived right next to Joubert for the first ten years of my life. My Parents Married there and i was christened in the methodist church on Wolmarans street. My Grandparents lived there for many many years and finally left in 1980. So this place was my home my everything. I played there, yes enjoyed the Christmas lights, and due to the range of trees growing there, finally influenced me to become a professional forester. I ran around, played and had a simply tremendous time there. Yes the art gallery and the art that used to be put up in the "artists in the park" on a yearly basis, was really some of those things that was always good. I was even there when in snowed in Joburg in '64! Yes the chess pieces and the big hall where there were concerts. On the eastern flank was the kids play ground and we had good times in there!! I not seen anybody mention the glass house where all these tropical plants were kept. I remember the giant Amazon lillies. Yes they even grew seedlings there. I watched so many seasons come and go, and the love shared by my parents and grand parents there.
All i can say is this is so very very sad! My kids cannot believe it is the same place from the photos supplied.
Joubert Park RIP!

5:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/kingspark/index.html?Menu=kingspark&Sub=home
the park in perth, no fences ect5 but quite big, one side is at the end of the main street.

7:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm so glad I'm out of it all - thank God for Australia and first world civilisation.... shocked to the core at these images.

8:04 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I used to live in "Garden Mansions" in Wolmarans Street in the early Seventies just opposite the park. I would spend many weekends in the park, either on a chair near the fountain or on a blanket on the lawn and I remember Christmas time with all the decorations and the carols as well as the other performances in the tent, concerts etc. Does anybody still remember the "El Dorado Steak House" with the Indian waiters? They had the best "Mixed Grills" and "Bacon and Egg Sandwiches". It is such a pity that I can never show my children where I lived when I was young! I came back with them 2 years ago, we did an organized walking tour of downtown Johannesburg, but I was told it would be too dangeous to go to Joubert Park.

10:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting. There's a nice shot of the actual park from the "good old days". Then there's a shot purporting to be the same area now, but with the Carlton Center in clear view. When did the Carlton Center get moved that much closer to the park?

10:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well....well...welll.
Who the hell is the blog author? Let everyone say what they want!
There are no law's in this country, - " not worth mentioning."
If they again hang people for killing , cutting off their hands for steeling and life in prison for rape - I'm talking PRISON - not the 5 star hotel they get today - and with free food at that!!!!!
No wonder they don't hang people for murder anymore, because who is going to be the one's HANGED ? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can work with some but NOT with everyone. Look at every country that has a black goverment!
We all better pray that GOD heals our land . NO ONE ELSE CAN!!!!!!!!!!!

12:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I lived adjacent to the park until I was 21 and married. Then I moved to Illovo. I regretted the move at the time because I just loved Joubert Park, the wide streets surrounding it, the tram rides up Twist street, the evenings in Hillbrow at the many cafes and coffee shops. It was friendly and safe. Of course I am talking about the 60's and 70's. What a tragedy for those who now live in this slum, if they could only have known the benefits we enjoyed, not because we were white but because we cared, we cleaned, we did not litter and we respected our neighbors. What a pity the current leaders have sought refuge in the "Blame Game". It is such a poor response to reality. Why not make the effort, send organizers into the area, rehab the buildings and make them liveable, create centers of music, art and shopping. People will come and spend money if it is safe and clean. Stop moaning, complaining and do something progressive. Black people also want to live a good life. Give them the tools to work with. No more excuses and or blame.

5:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is really sad. We lived in the flats on the corner of Bok and King George Street in the 80's. I would walk through the park every day to cath a bus to go to school. It really sad to see how badly this area has deterorated. It was great place to live. Pity won't be able to show my kids where I grew up.

10:33 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I am not from Johannesburg (not even from SA) but it is sad to see what happening to this city. I assume blacks are not the reason but consequences of what happening.
Something like this is happening to Detroit, MI
http://egland.livejournal.com/93045.html?
page=2#comments

the 1st chart: POPULATION OF DETROIT,

the 2nd chart: Detroit Demographic trend.

coincidence ?

2:45 AM  
Blogger bushie said...

Yes Apartheid was evil, and so on ad-infinatum.
To people who never lived in SA and try to make a comment about this blog,You have no clue what you are talking about,all the folks who threw all kind of money and condemnation at the previous evil regime,where are you now? Why not pour in the development funds now,because it is not a secure investment, just another dark hole.
I walked or got the #19 bus from Yeoville to the city center for many years.Now it looks like a giant garbage can.Thank goodness I don't have to, anymore, I went on holiday in early 1990 and never returned.I started out as just another Bushie from Fietas, now I'm a proud man living in the good ol USA.
The S.African citizens got what they voted for,like it or not,and to all those from overseas who helped this come about....Happy now? then shut up already.
I'm very sad to see these pics. and could never live that way, but the cancer will continue to grow and grow just like the rest of the region.You can only blame the present government,since they came to power things have decayed bit by bit,none of them seem to care at all.

9:19 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Welcome to the African jungle!

The same is happening in many parts of SA. It disgusts me by what I have seen.

South Africa is dead...I wonder if Mbeki will bring a wreath?

3:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hope they are happy now. Nothing left. Unbelievable.

10:46 PM  
Blogger Shurugwi said...

As many others I have fond memories of visiting the fairy theme exhibitions in the 70’s. I used to go to school at Joubert Park Primary and often visited the park after school when visiting friends.

Sitting in London I miss my country desperately but images such as this just brings home the realisation that what I once knew as home simply no longer exists.

The apartheid era had many wrongs but did do many things right as well. Education, morals, a new government and respect for each others is the foundation on which South Africa will be rebuilt or the lack of will keep it slowly going to pieces.

4:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In response to Silverfox's comment, what do you mean the city's decay started in the 80's, where you even able to take a wiss by yourself then,Lets be realistic here.This all started when our new government took over and the reason for this is coz they cant run a bath for themselves let alone a country. You say why not emigrate, I say why not get all these damn illegal emagrants out of the country and keep them out. That should start sorting out a small part of the problem, and by the way.... i wonder who is a racist? Stop feeling sorry for yourself for "being previously disatvantaged and get a life.

10:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you can see some of the same things in detroit or compton in the states. anywere they think 'whitie' owes them it becomes a cesspool.

you can find very nice black areas as well the diff. from the above is that these people worked for it and value it. the old black man vs 'nigger' attitude.

2:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To ex-Johannesburger - Great rhetoric, when do we start?

To Jake 77 - What's your point - most awesome fence-sitting job ever!

10:10 AM  
Blogger snookums said...

When I received this e-mail I sat and cried. What has happened to the town(Johannesburg) that I grew up in and loved???

2:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The liberals in the US and Europe are destroying the Western world.
You SA's were among the first to be destryed in the name of multiculturalism.

The white Left is killing us all. How do we regain our strength and cultural confidence and retake what is ours.

Where is the Left and the MSM when its white civilization crashing and burning? At home applauding it. Treson.



JB, Denmark

5:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your pitiful point of view is obviously a reflection of someone who cannot think. THINK!... and adapt to change.

Urban "degeneration" is not a purely African concept. Poverty, segregation and the greed, hatred and arrogance of people who I'm guessing you admire greatly (Vervoerd, etc) are a few of the reasons why RSA (and its cities) has a lot of work to do.

You sit behind your computer, in your leafy suburb and blame blacks for all the woes of the world, even though it is them who continue to suffer as a result of policies that enabled you to live the life you live today.

You and your fellow racially-ignorant readers are sad and pathetic people who clearly have NO PLACE in this country. If you hate RSA and blacks so much... then run away to Europe or Australia to live out the life of your anglo-saxon dream.

Those people with vision, purpose and who can THINK about a problem's solutions will untilmately win. It’s not how strong or clever, but how you adapt to change that will enable you to succeed in the world. People like you stuck in the past and the "good old says" will eventually die (1st spiritually and mentally) with an insignificant legacy.

God Bless you

2:32 PM  
Blogger The Real Realist said...

Simon Yigaretti said...
Your pitiful point of view is obviously a reflection of someone who cannot think. THINK!... and adapt to change.

Urban "degeneration" is not a purely African concept. Poverty, segregation and the greed, hatred and arrogance of people who I'm guessing you admire greatly (Vervoerd, etc) are a few of the reasons why RSA (and its cities) has a lot of work to do.


Oh I see! Sorry, my humble apologies, for a minute I though Blacks had trashed the city . . . obviously I was wrong, it is Verwoerd's fault... ha ha

2:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

England will look like this soon!!!

5:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As a little boy who was born in that area (1981) we used to go many times to admire the xmas lights in December as a family ...we could walk there from our flat at night without a problem. It trully is HEARTBREAKING! without webssites like this it trully is difficult to explain to people the changes taking place where you grew up as a kid.(now live in U.K...sorry)

8:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How sad i grew up there and i had such fond memories. Now i live in Europe and i used to brag about sa but now.....

10:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have also been cheated out of having a country I can be proud of. It's why I joined this forum. www.antipatriot.za.net

Come have your say, UNCENSORED and UNEDITED.

Beware though, I can virtually assure you that you will read something you don't like...

12:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm white and emigrated from England to South Africa last year. I love it.
However, the legacy of apartheid still rumbles on (not least of all in this website).
Lots of things to be sorted which take time, money, enthusiasm and skills. Clearly it will take a long time to get things right, but hopefull they will be right for the majority of people and not the very small minority as in the past.
To suggest, as some have in these pages, that everything was great in the 70s and 80s was only true for a very few people. Most people were oppressed, victimised and marginalised.
There is no easy solution. But the old-fashioned ideas of racism that a few writers here have linked onto will only lead to their own marginalisation again. Time to grow up and move with the times. Help turn things around.

10:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

RIGHT now its the most dirtiest place ive ever seen i think the world is coming to an end it was so nice and look at it now its unbelievable what can we say thiss is the new SA/

4:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I used to go to Hillbrow weekends for the hustle and bustle of the clean and vibrant night life. Mr. Copperfield what have you done. Zim sala bim.

11:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was born in Johannesburg in the 70s and grew up with us moving back and forth between Orange Grove and Durban, because of my father's job. Bit of a grey case.

I'd heard JoBurg had deteriorated significantly, but these photos are astonishing! I still recall driving into town with my mum to go shopping, seeing Christmas lights during the season and walking through the centre with our family on Sundays. I even managed to fit in a few nefarious nights in Hillbrow, just before it became very dangerous. Indeed, as recently as the mid-90s I would go to Braamfontein to jol with my friends – there was a gay bar, whose name I now forget, near the Central Station and the SAA building.

I left for my parents’ homeland in Europe 12 years ago and would return (mostly to Durban) once a year. Now, I am living in South Africa once more, and have been for a year. It has not been without its frustrations, but I have enjoyed it so.

Perhaps since it is a smaller and more manageable city, but Durban’s CBD seems to be improving notably (ridiculous name changes notwithstanding). I live on the rejuvenated Point, so drive through it each day. It is certainly cleaner than it appeared to be a few years ago when I visited to observe and –despite their being plenty dodgy and crappy areas- things are civilizing and big areas being refurbished and spruced up.

Be it as it may, me appearing to sit on the fence, I don’t really care why Johannesburg has been reduced to what she. I just find it appallingly sad that the great city of my birth is no longer a place I am proud of or wish to venture into.

10:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's an interesting fact:

When whites arrived we were thousands of years ahead. Please don't give me the domestication and seeds argument, it's bullsh*t. It's just some liberal fail rhetoric used which is plausible enough to get people to listen. Here's the truth: They had more than enough opportunity, but were not intelligent enough to use it. I suppose the climate here is more inhospitable to than the frigid world of the Vikings of Scandinavia who at the time ran around ransacking places with their superior iron and now most of the countries there have the highest HDI ratings in the world... RIGHT. Reject the liberal fallacies that are fed to you.

The AWB even has sociological studies proving that blacks are inferior. I have studied Sociology, so again: Please don't show me your liberal bull. Yet where are these studies? Locked away.

So based on all this white people are the bad guys, even though we built one of the only successful countries on this continent, which by the way, had a nice two pounds to the rand. As soon as blacks came along and took control everything went to hell.

6:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I live in the UK ...these pictures are unbeleivable..they are a horror! and one that is coming to Europr and America...

2:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To the realist:
Iam glad you showed me these pics!! I was actually thinking of visiting SA next year what a rotten city by all means!! I live in Canada and I cherish every moment for living in a great country like mine USA and austrailia amongst others...but we all know what happens if you let apes run wild in the city...but very very sad to see.. I thought only USA had these problems sooo sad...

5:22 AM  
Blogger Gary said...

hi these pics are alot worse than i thought they would be......they look like they come from a horror movie.....i think im gonna have nightmares..........im in pta we have to let the world know whats happened

thanks alot

1:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

yes, my friend , i used to live in johannesburg, and i used work in many building, as a worker fixing marble in the buildings, i missing that time, and i have so wonderfull memories, now i am sorouw, and i belive during my life time ill be hard to see that again. what can i say, my heart is hurt , i am with you,
my name is billy , i am living in brasil waiting for a better day day for south africa .

6:15 PM  

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