An initiative that installed street lights in Johannesburg's inner city suburb of Doornfontein and brought lights back on the iconic Mandela Bridge has now set its sights on fixing Hillbrow.
Jozi My Jozi, a nonprofit organisation founded a year and half ago aimed at rescuing the Johannesburg CBD, has made the notorious flatlands of Hillbrow its next focus area.
Some of Jozi My Jozi's completed projects include lighting Braamfontein from Jan Smuts Avenue through to Mandela Bridge and the inner city up to the M2 highway in the east.
Jozi My Jozi is also part of CBD Fridays, an initiative which involves the City of Joburg and the Gauteng provincial government where parts of the city are cleaned up.
Doornfontein, which had suffered from years of neglect, was lit up once again in an initiative led by the organisation last year ahead of the Rugby Championship match between the Springboks and All Blacks in August.
On Friday, the cleanup campaign took place in Hillbrow, which is also the next main focus area for the organisation.
Joburg-born and bred Bea Swanepoel, a chartered accountant, is the CEO of Jozi My Jozi. She describes leading the initiative as the “most privileged two years of my life”.
“It's been a massive privilege... it's been an incredible journey. I am a Joburg girl and I am passionate about seeing the city being a functional city and the best city in South Africa, and that's our vision,” Swanepoel said.
Swanepoel brings to Jozi My Jozi more than 25 years of mining industry experience in various roles.
She said her deep connection to Johannesburg drove her to push for the creation of a hopeful future for its residents and youth — a passion shared by her team.
Jozi My Jozi founding members are Nando’s co-founder Robbie Brozin, Adam Craker, CEO of IQbusiness, quantity surveyor Anton Uys and Melusi Mhlungu, founder and chief creative officer of We Are Bizarre.
“We want to bring about massive change, and you have to do it slowly and take the communities that we work with on the journey with us,” Swanepoel said.
Swanepoel said they have partnered with more than 130 organisations and corporates on their mission to make sure the city works.
“The whole Elis Park precinct is a sign that if you put your mind to it that the private and the public sector can actually work together, and we can go so much further. [Doornfontein] is a standout project that we have done,” Swanepoel said.
The concept behind the formation of Jozi My Jozi was when mining giant Anglo American approached Wits University as it considered options for preserving the heritage of its ancestral home in Marshalltown, which it vacated when it relocated its offices to Rosebank and London.
Swanepoel said once Johannesburg is fixed and succeeds, so will South Africa.
She believes in five years tourism numbers in Johannesburg will rise due to the improvements that will be there for everyone to see.
“Our next focus is Hillbrow, and if we fix Hillbrow everything else will be very easy,” Swanepoel said.
Jozi My Jozi enjoys the backing of some of the biggest names in corporate South Africa, including Anglo American, Nando’s, FNB, Standard Bank, Investec, Absa and Microsoft.
Stephen du Preez, founder of Local Abode, is one of Jozi My Jozi partners. He told TimesLIVE Premium that the initiative seeks to collaborate with the City of Joburg in reclaiming the city.
He said lighting up Nelson Mandela Bridge has been a huge success as the solar lights installed there have a tracking device and can quickly be recovered if they were to be stolen.
He said though there has been one theft attempt, none of the lights on Mandela Bridge have been stolen.
“The street lights also have an anti-tamper device in them which is being monitored, so if somebody takes the street light or there's a rapid movement of that street light, an alarm does go off in a control room and an armed response is sent,” Du Preez said.
He said some of the completed projects involved lighting up Joe Slovo Drive, one of Joburg CBD's main artilleries that also divides Berea and Yeoville, which also had solar street lights installed up to the Ellis Park train station area.
Potholes were also repaired on Joe Slovo Drive. There were plans to upgrade around a dozen gateways into the city, which will also have public artwork installed.
“One of our biggest challenges has been the perception people have ... when you tell someone you want to fix the inner city of Joburg, they tell you that you are mad, it can't be fixed,” Du Preez said.
He said, however, once people have been to the inner city, their “no-go zone” perceptions change.
“When people experience the inner city and there's some amazing parts of the inner city ... we have property investors who have been in the inner city for the last 30 years and they have invested [in the CBD],” he said.
Jozi My Jozi is dependent on donations and has reached agreements with corporates who have signed up to adopt some of the gateways into the city that they will upgrade, Du Preez said.
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.