Thriving urban farm defies a city that's rotting into ruin

Amid ghastly municipal failure, dignity and purpose can still be cultivated. By Leah Marais

- Leah Marais

Nathi Mbele feeds the chickens that roam freely around the farm.

(Photos: Felix Dlangamandla)

In the final days of 2025, Kensington, Troyeville and their surrounding neighbourhoods in Johannesburg were overwhelmed by a sense of abandonment.

For weeks, refuse had not been collected. Residents received morning messages instructing them to put their bins outside, only to be told later to bring them in again, with vague assurances that collection would happen "tomorrow". Tomorrow rarely comes.

The consequences are immediate and visceral. Rubbish piles up in the summer heat, creating environmental and road hazards and an overpowering stench. Residents resort to donning masks and gloves, transferring decomposing waste into black bags and trying to take it to the Pikitup drop-off facility in Bezuidenhout Valley.

This site, however, has been "under construction" for more than two months. It is closed, with no alternative facility identified and no guidance issued to residents. The result is predictable: informal dumping grounds are mushrooming all over the area, rats the size of bricks run through the streets and informal recyclers work bravely among the filth.

What is most striking is the silence. There has been no meaningful communication from Pikitup or the City of Johannesburg explaining what residents should do, what contingency plans are in place, or when services will be restored.

The decay is not limited to refuse removal. Residents have now been alerted to the possible contamination of municipal water in Bez Valley after sewage leaks, with advice to use bottled water until testing is concluded.