In-depth 2016: Joburg CBD
Founded in a gold rush during the 1800s, the early days set Johannesburg’s character as busy and constantly on the move. Many came from all over the country, continent and the world to seek their fortunes. Some prospered, others did not. By many accounts, men arrived first, followed later by women. There was no official racial segregation in the city during its infancy. Harsher and harsher racially oppressive laws took root in the city as governments and politics shifted over time. The city bears these scars today. Since the early 1990s, and informally before that that, official racial segregation lapsed. Some people and businesses moved out of the city centre, others moved in. The policies and plans for the inner city are born with great flourish. Some live, others flounder. But the residents of Joburg keep moving into every available space, physically, financially and emotionally. Some prosper, other don’t.
Group Assimilation
Join the writers as they interpret this theme to include everything from how to green the concrete jungle, finding reading spaces and safe spaces to worship. As they search for elusive English as a second language and adapt and reclaim traditional shweshwe fabric. In motion there is energy and assimilation is a constant motion.

Shannon Correia
Journalist
Shweshwe: The fabric of the inner city

Nasya Smith
Journalist
Giving birth on the streets of Joburg

Kyle Oberholzer
Journalist
The drill hall defenders

Wendy Mothata
Journalist
Entertaining angels

Tendani Mulaudzi
Journalist
A greenhouse in the urban jungle

Aarti Bhana
Journalist
Democracy is a dialogue
Group Degradation
Arguably the word most associated with the Johannesburg inner city. Our writers find the flip side of degradation in the traditional sense of the word. Visit the Joburg Art Gallery and the chess players in Joubert Park. Meet the migrants trying to be legal and the peddlers selling beauty and happiness from a city pole. And meet the young skateboarders living inside one of the city’s most famously regimented space.

Laura Pisanello
Journalist
Art fights for inner city relevance

Zanta Nkumane
Journalist
Checkmates, Stalemates and Zugswangs

Hazel Kimani
Journalist
The sole survivor speaks English

Nozipho Mpanza
Journalist
The cosmetic industry of the inner city

Nokuthula Zwane
Journalist
Migrants: No room at the inn
Group Resilience
Resilience is a rubber band that keeps bouncing back until it breaks. Or it’s a ball bouncing higher or lower or dribbling. it’s flexible and it keeps coming back. These are the resilient traders of the Joburg inner city as they find ways to sell their wares. These are waste pickers making a living from discards. They are hairdressers and traditional healers and some are gamblers looking for a lucky break.

Lwandile Fikeni
Journalist
The hairdressers of kerk street

Nobathembu Zantsi
Journalist
Vumani bo! Seers and sangomas in the city of gold

Sisa Canca
Journalist
Luck and loss in the CBD

Ayanda Mgede
Journalist
Sex work as survival

Leanne Cumming
Journalist
The waste pickers of the urban landscape
Group Rejuvenation
Rejuvenation speaks of life, water and energy. The energy of birth, the energy of taking on a role defying social stereotypes. The life-giving photography in Joubert Park, rejuvenating photographer and subject. And rejuvenating yourself by faking it until you make it. These are stories of birth and rebirth.

Olwethu Boso
Journalist
Driving in a man’s world

Nadia Omar
Journalist
The reality of fake goods

Candice Wagener
Journalist
Shutterbugs in the park

Tebogo Tshwane
Journalist
Trading against all odds

Mokgethwa Masemola
Journalist
The green lungs of the inner city
Click here to view the 2017 In-depth reporting project: Soweto Central