The City of Johannesburg is no more

ON THURSDAY last week, I asked the driver of the car we were using to take us around the Johannesburg CBD to see the state of the city. Having lived just across the city, in Braamfontein, from January 1983 to December 1984 and having enjoyed many walks into the CBD and its surroundings, nothing could have prepared me for the shock. The Johannesburg CBD is no more. It's been destroyed.

- LORENZO A DAVIDS

I asked our driver to drive through the CBD’s famous streets, such as Commissioner, Eloff, Bree, Rissik, Jeppe, and others. Every street we drove through confronted me with a dystopian nightmare - except in this case, it was all real. The CBD was a heaving, suffering, mortally wounded animal, breathing its last as violent humans further violated what remained of its beauty.

The Johannesburg CBD is a parking lot for taxis. They park anywhere and everywhere. The few police officers we saw were accompanied by security guards. Hotels and businesses have all closed or relocated.

It seemed that the buildings had last been maintained in 1983. The old Stock Exchange Building with its mirrored exterior, where we once took pictures in 1984, is now just a piece of filthy glass.

The road infrastructure is collapsing.

I fear to think what’s happening to the underground sewerage systems in the CBD. The garbage is piling up on every corner. Public toilets are any open spot, wherever you can find one, for men and women.