The death of a city ...

Please do not mistake this as a bash the current generation but how many of you have been into Johannesburg central recently?


I will start off this dialogue with the worst comment thrown my way this morning whilst in Johannesburg, which was from a taxi driver in the central business district, specifically Bree street. We where at the time both still in our vehicles in a traffic jam.


"What the f*ck you doing here whitey, you know this is not your city"


Now the comment itself holds no water with me and the overly aggressive attitude I can handle, as i have a 'tortoise shell' attitude to negativity. It bounces off 99.9% of the time without me giving it a second thought let alone a response. What gets to me is the wreck and ruin the city is in. I have such fond memories of Johannesburg as a youngster and teenager, and i even lived in Hillbrow for a period i enjoyed it so much. I am so sorry i did not take a camera along, but then again i wouldn't have a use for the pictures excepting to show yet another "African" city.



The parks, no longer exist and if they do they are filled with squatters and flea markets. Wow i hear people say flea markets! how quaint, folks let me tell you a bit about these flea markets. From my casual passing observations from the street side in an very hot and humid vehicle, i noticed several things that are not related to quaint flea markets. Firstly open fires on the pavement, cooking God only knows what. Fresh meat being cut on the side of the road and the horrific thing is where and how did they slaughter the animal to get it there in the first place. Another road side observation was the total ( and i mean total ) lack of respect for the law. There is no law, for the vehicles or the people. It took me 35 minutes to go five blocks as the robots meant nothing. The vehicles stop anywhere for absolutely any reason and irrespective of the right of way or the colours of the traffic lights you just go. I sat in the middle of one intersection for 13 minutes waiting for the traffic to move. Everyone hooting, drivers swearing and waving fists at each other and two or three of them climbing out of their vehicles to go and sort another driver out.



A driver of a taxi stopped in front of me in the second lane from the side of the road and climbed out. He strolled across the road to buy a single cigarette, and after lighting it, he chatted to the vendor and exchanged pleasantries or whatever and then returned to his vehicle and pulled over to allow his passengers to embark and disembark whatever the case may have been. I had at that stage no less than fifteen vehicles backed up in our lane alone, through two intersections, all hooting and shouting at us. I lit another smoke and relaxed, to my own detriment i might add. It did give me an opportunity to see what a dreadful state the building were in. The same buildings i as a kid was going to find an apartment in when i grew up. The are old Victorian style buildings, but now instead of reminding you of the finer things in life they reflect how harsh Africa really is. The windows are long time gone and have been replaced, if at all, by cardboard and or blankets. Any form of steel like fire hydrants, burglar bars or fencing below arms reach has long time gone and been sold for scrap. There are no dustbins anymore so the streets are littered with debris. The parking bays for these units are all taken up by furniture that has been thrown out into the street. Amongst this furniture is the garbage, most of it not in bags but rather just dumped anywhere.



It is so sad to witness Africa's emblem of success and prestige land up like a third world dump. I hear many many saying 'Ooh but it was your success and not 'the peoples' and i would agree, but do keep in mind that i too am a product of the past, how was i to know right from wrong at such a young age. Yes! since then i have learnt and changed, and i know it has been for the better. Johannesburg is not my triumphant call of attention to the progress this country has made in the last fifteen years. It is a sad reminder that even though i am bred from seven or eight generations worth of stock in South Africa i do not have a place in my beloved city. I shudder to think what the world will witness in 2010.