Hillbrow
is an inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg, South Africa. It
is known for its high levels of population density, unemployment, crime and
poverty. In the 1970s it was an apartheid designated ‘whites only’
area but with the removal of apartheid it gradually became an area of mixed
races. Many whites left Hillbrow after poorly controlled political demonstrations
in the late days of Apartheid, taking along with them their wealth and places
of employment.
by
Ilan Godfrey
Owners
of the tower blocks abandoned their buildings in the 1990’s, leaving corrupt
rogue landlords to retrieve what rents they could from disadvantaged tenants,
then disappearing. Utilities were left unpaid, allowing the buildings to deteriorate
and fall into disarray and urban decay. Common media and suburban representation
of Hillbrow is one of pervasive physical decline. Although this portrayal of
Hillbrow has some validity, there is also a good deal of mythology.
The
large amounts of rubbish is due to the refuse collectors going on strike over
pay. A dead baby was found dumped here two days before the photograph was taken.
Corner Quartz Street and Kapteijn Street, 2005
Josef
Jones, 20 shares this bed with his two friends, Simpiwe Guru, 16 and Themba
Ndlovu, 14. They don’t work and don’t go to school. Banket Street
and Kapteijn Street, 2005
