[Originally published April 2013] Urban Ocean is a name that has become synonymous with neglect and decay in Johannesburg’s Inner City. A visit to buildings like Shakespeare House and the CNA Building on Commissioner Street can only be described as depressing. In his Citi Chat column late last year, Neil Fraser commented that these buildings ‘look as though they have just been repatriated from Syria, totally disgracing the centre city area.’
The façade of the Provincial Building in downtown Johannesburg never fails to turn heads. It was preserved and incorporated into Surrey House in the early 1990s. Below is an overview of events compiled by Johann Bruwer (published courtesy of the City of Johannesburg).
[First published 28 January 2013] If all goes to plan over the next few months, Johannesburg could become Africa’s first Wikipedia City. This means that visitors will be able to use their smartphones to scan QR codes placed on historic landmarks and be taken to a Wikipedia page containing fascinating information about the site. (A QR code is a smart phone readable bar code that contains web addresses).
Changing Space, Changing City, Johannesburg after Apartheid edited by Philip Harrison, Graeme Gotz, Alison Todes and Chris Wray. 2014, Wits University Press. Johannesburg is a city of vast expanse and substance. Within its short history it has become that the economic powerhouse of the subcontinent. It is a city that is changing rapidly and this book seeks to document what is happening right now and to place that change in a time context. How has the city fared since 1994?
The question above is one that has been asked and answered many times over the years. We are repeating it now as we feel the South African Heritage community needs to continuously push the simple idea that we can help the country to achieve its development goals. This idea is expressed throughout the City of Johannesburg's Heritage Policy. Below are a few excerpts from this policy:
Heritage Tourism
We found this remarkable letter from the early 1980s in the archives of the Egoli Heritage Foundation. It deals with a preservationist's dilemma regarding a a building called Somerset House in the Johannesburg CBD.
In reply to requests in your newspapers for information concerning Johannesburg's past I'm faced with a dilemma I should like to share with you, which with some help could be resolved. It concerns a small building in Fox Street called Somerset House (in Johannesburg's CBD), which was built in 1906.
Below is an 'eye-witness' account of the opening of the Krugersdorp Town Hall Clock in 1908. The account appeared in the June 1908 edition of the South African Railway Magazine. It is interesting to see Mr Collins make good use of a splendid public relations opportunity. Thank you to the Heritage Office at Transnet for giving us access to their archives.
We are very pleased to publish Tony Ferrar's report on a recent journey along the Barberton Makhonjwa Geotrail organised by the Mpumalanga Historical Interest Group. MHIG Chairman, Duncan Ballantyne confirmed that eighty eight people attended, a new record for the young organisation. Attendees gave the recently finished Geotrail a big thumbs up. We expect it to become a major tourist attraction and inspire similar projects around the country in the coming years.
A massive scandal is brewing in Barberton as the town's famous historic core comes under threat. Below is an article written by Chris Rippon and Marjory Nunns and disseminated by the Mpumalanga Historical Interest Group. Click here for updates.
In 2013 Chris Rippon and Marjory Nunns compiled the article 'Scandal brewing in Barberton'. Almost two years have passed and the scandal is definitely here. Read on for details from the same authors. Click here for updates.
