Jozi My Jozi: How civic action is restoring pride in Joburg

From solar streetlights to community events, Jozi My Jozi is revitalising the inner city through practical civic projects that inspire hope and reignite pride

- Kulani Nkuna

Illuminating the way: The rehabilitation of the Nelson Mandela Bridge was positioned as a — a beacon of hope and pride — at one of 13 identified gateways into the inner city. Photo: File

On most mornings, the pavements of Marshalltown fill gradually. Office workers slip between heritage buildings, students move in lively clusters and pedestrians hurry along their commutes.

Coffee shops hum. Security guards stand posted on corners, ready to offer directions to a lost soul.

It is here, in a part of the inner city that still carries a quiet dignity, where Innocent Mabusela, the chief executive of Jozi My Jozi, works and thinks daily about how to stitch Johannesburg back together.

When he first walked into a meeting about Jozi My Jozi, he thought he was signing up for modest volunteer work. He imagined cleanups and small-scale charity projects, the kind of civic contribution that fits neatly into a few spare days each month.

What he encountered instead was something more ambitious, a platform attempting to mobilise business, civil society and residents around a shared idea of restoring pride in the city.

“I came in thinking Jozi My Jozi was just a small organisation doing charitable work in the inner city,” he said. “Cleanups, working with NGOs such as MES and Child Welfare. Then I realised it was more than that.”

Mabusela was raised in Orlando West, Soweto and remembers weekend trips into town as a teenager. The Kine Centre cinemas opposite the Carlton Centre formed part of that ritual, a reminder that the city centre once felt expansive and full of possibility.

Later, during his time at Anglo American working on economic development initiatives for Kimberley in the Northern Cape, a meeting with Jozi My Jozi’s leadership shifted his trajectory.