MyJHB

Stuff from Johannesburg

Ashley Judd Reassures Fans That She Is Okay After Her Accident

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa in the news:

  1. Ashley Judd Reassures Fans That She Is Okay After Her Accident: Ashley Judd has reassured fans that she is okay following her accident in Congo, in which she broke some bones in her legs. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  2. The extra jab of being a widow during a pandemic: Before you go out with a widow, first ask her what killed her husband, says an African proverb. For the Togolese, the saying is rhetorical and more ominous in tone: You ¤irt with a widow, but do you … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  3. ANCWL congratulates WC High Court for clearing Bongo of corruption: JOHANNESBURG – The African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL)’s has congratulated the Western Cape High Court just hours after it cleared Bongani Bongo for corruption. ANCWL’s president … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  4. Court orders seizure of R46 million worth of ex-ANC MP’s assets: Seizure order includes disgraced parliamentarian’s personal property, his company, family trust and daughter’s assets. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  5. What we know about Shantivax -Africa’s first vaccine prototype: As the developing world faces disparities in vaccine distribution and availability, the development of Shantivax — Africa’s first Covid-19 vaccine —could be a game-changer. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews

Click here to submit your Johannesburg, Gauteng News – free.

Have you tried: Travelling to South Africa?

Did you know this about Johannesburg? Stone-walled ruins of Sotho–Tswana towns and villages are scattered around the parts of the former Transvaal in which Johannesburg is situated. Many of these sites contain the ruins of Sotho–Tswana mines and iron smelting furnaces, suggesting that the area was being exploited for its mineral wealth before the arrival of Europeans or the discovery of gold. The most prominent site within Johannesburg is Melville Koppies, which contains an iron smelting furnace.

Category: Tag: , , , , , ,

From Sophiatown to Triomf

By 1963, Sophiatown had been physically razed to the ground. In a final act of psychological warfare, the government built a white working-class suburb over the rubble and named it Triumph (Triomf). They wanted to erase the very memory of Sophiatown from the landscape. For decades, the name Sophiatown disappeared from maps, replaced by the neat, sterile streets of the victors.

The “resurrection” of Sophiatown began officially in 2006, when the City of Johannesburg formally restored the original name to the suburb. Today, the neighborhood is a quiet, leafy residential area, but the ghosts of the “Paris of the Transvaal” are everywhere. The Sophiatown Heritage Centre, housed in the former home of Dr. A.B. Xuma (a former ANC president), is one of the few original buildings that escaped the bulldozers. Walking through the streets today, you can still find small markers of the past: a lone Victorian pillar, a specific tree mentioned in a poem, or the rebuilt St. Joseph’s Church.

The legacy of Sophiatown is not just one of tragedy, but of an indestructible cultural spirit. The music, the slang (Tsotsitaal), and the “Drum” era aesthetic continue to influence South African fashion and film today. It serves as a reminder that while you can bulldoze a house and rename a street, you cannot kill the soul of a place that once danced to the sound of a thousand saxophones.