If the private property sector has its way, the Joburg inner city will become less grime and crime — and it’s getting their hands dirty doing it.
At least eight big private investors — Absa, Divercity Urban Property Fund, Ithemba Properties, Olitzki Property Holdings, Atterbury, Talis Property Funds, FNB and Standard Bank — have come to the rescue of the Joburg inner city by establishing city and retail inner city districts (CIDs and RIDs) in pockets of the area. Property owners collaborate and meet monthly to engage on communal problems. They pay for their own security, cleaning and maintenance, and even repair the municipal pavements and potholes.
Last month the CBD received a R500m cash injection from CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution. The money was given to the Divercity Urban Property Fund, an affordable housing platform focused on the regeneration of SA cities, as part of CDC’s investment in Africa.
It will fund the construction and management of more than 2,500 new residential units over the next five years, mostly in Johannesburg, for low and middle-income earners.
CDC Group’s llaria Benucci said population growth and a challenging macroeconomic environment “necessitates patient and long-term investments that will help close the gap between demand and supply in SA’s housing market”.
And there have been other big revamps in city sectors.
But the fringes of these shiny new spaces are falling into deep decline. The underbelly of highway bridges have become sleeping and living spaces for the homeless and illegal dumping. Buildings have been hijacked, illegal mining is happening in the open and crime and drug dealing go down in broad daylight.
A particularly bad section is under the Joe Slovo Bridge, nicknamed the Slovo Motel. Homeless people have created a hostel-type shelter where they sleep and hang around, begging nearby as they keep an eye on their meagre belongings, stored neatly in their “booked” spaces.
At night drugs and prostitution are rife under the bridge.
In some nearby roads drug dealers operate openly, doing a thriving business as addicts shoot themselves up in broad daylight.
The Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) used to carry out regular raids and evictions before the Socio-Economic Rights Institute won a court order against the city, forcing it to return their goods. The city is appealing.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency said bridges and road infrastructure are being damaged by winter fires and dumping in stormwater drains. Some people sleep in the water outlets directly under the bridge slabs, causing the water reticulation system to block and flood.
Bree Street is another challenging area as it houses a huge taxi rank where informal trading is uncontrolled.
Jeppe Street has become home to numerous foreign-owned shops selling fake goods, importing products on a huge scale and selling them on to informal traders. One of them, a trader from Ethiopia who did not want to be named, said the JMPD carried out regular raids, confiscating goods, but traders simply returned immediately after.
“They can’t be here every day, so we build this stock loss into our profits. The city makes a big media hype about the raids, but very seldom follow up. We pay the fines and if it’s worth it, we sometimes get our goods back.”
JMPD spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said a high-density operation in the city had been revised and from September 1 had kicked into high gear with support from officers brought in from all eight neighbouring regions.
“We’ve got specialist units, the IIOC (Integrated Information Operations Centre) and the bylaw management unit out to deal with hawkers and street traders,” he said.
These efforts will remain in place until the end of December.
“On top of this we have 24-hour surveillance by the CCTV camera centre, where the guys in the control room are able to report any suspicious activity to the crews on the ground, so the city should be a lot safe now.”
Gandhi Square, the very heart of the inner city, has big-brand outlets such as Reebok and Adidas alongside budget stores such as Pep, Dis-Chem and Shoprite, and pedestrians can walk safely as far down as Maboneng. The EFF has also positioned its new headquarters in the precinct.
Most of the properties in and around the square are owned and managed by Olitzki Property Holdings (OPH), where outlets offer anything from legal cover to funeral services, beauty salons to a new Unisa campus.
“It is a busy square as we have the Metrobus central exchange, a Rea Vaya route and a taxi rank,” said OPH director Anton Jaffe, pointing out its convenience as a transport hub and lunchtime venue offering decent shopping, restaurants and fast food.
“We have our own teams of cleaners and 24-hour security. We have high-end tenants and those who cater for the lower income. It is completely safe to walk for blocks around here. There are guards and cameras on every corner and not a single piece of litter in the streets,” he said.
Joburg’s first court, in what was then Van der Bijl Square, has been demolished. But the original lawyers’ offices and old bank building still exist and have been renovated to heritage standards. The head office of the old United Building Society, which houses an underground vault containing the original bank deposit boxes and features the grand décor of the day, has been left intact and is now a trendy new restaurant.
The square links through a westerly walkway to the Mining Precinct, a tourist attraction displaying many old mining artefacts, with history boards. And a few blocks away is the huge FNB Bank City, currently under construction, but soon to be home to restaurants, cafes, shops and outdoor furniture where people can relax safely in the sun and eat their lunch.
Only traders with permits are allowed, strictly regulated in the neighbouring streets, thanks to the RID.
A safe pedestrian walkway from Gandhi Square to Maboneng has recently been completed down Main and Fox streets to the new Jewel City, a six-block area formerly occupied by gold and diamond dealers and which was derelict for years.
Now it is home to 2,700 affordable apartments, offices, a gym, a private school and 20,000m² of commercial space almost completely fully let.
Towers Main, the 30-storey Absa building along the route, which was mothballed in the 1970s, is now a mixed-use development with flats, banking offices for Absa and a coffee shop, an art gallery, creche and piazza.
“The vision behind this Towers redevelopment, which has extended the lifespan of this landmark — the 10th tallest in the Joburg skyline — was to create an inclusive and multifunctional neighbourhood that’s in keeping with new urban trends,” said Armond Boshoff, CEO of Atterbury SA.
In the case of Jewel City, Divercity works closely with the City of Johannesburg to clean and secure the precinct and its surrounds. The city facilitated the speedy approval of the plans and construction.
But next door to Maboneng, where flats sell from R750,000, lies the Mai Mai market. It’s derelict, with squatters taking refuge in abandoned buildings.
The Johannesburg Property Owners’ and Managers’ Association (JPOMA) is not enthusiastic about the future of the inner city because of high municipal costs for rates, water and refuse.
Spokesperson Angela Rivers said rates increases had led to a decline in tenants, resulting in a 30% increase in vacancies.
“We provide housing for families with monthly household incomes of between R4,500 and R15,000, by offering rentals from R1,750 (for a studio) to R6,000 (for a 3-bedroom flat),” she said.
But since 2008 municipal service charges have all risen by between 211% and 329%, while household incomes have risen only 119% and rentals have increased 111%.
Between 9% and 77% of vacancies in JPOMA members’ portfolios were caused by the increased municipal costs and charges. Rivers said that meant about 40% of tenants were leaving their affordable accommodation because the municipal costs and charges had become unaffordable.
New Joburg mayor Jolidee Matongo acknowledged the city had regularly featured in the news “for all the wrong reasons”.
He said plans were in place to train military veterans to enforce city bylaws and promised to increase service delivery across the city.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.