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Stuff from Johannesburg

COVID-19 source tracing should be science-based: S. African leading scientist

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa in the news:

  1. COVID-19 source tracing should be science-based: S. African leading scientist: COVID-19 source-tracing should be science-based, objective and fair, well-known South African epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim said. It is very important to identify sources of new viruses because it … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  2. The Latest: WH: US to buy 200M more doses of Pfizer vaccine: The federal government is buying 200 million more doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to prepare for future needs, such as boosters and shots for kids under 12. White House Press Secretary Jen … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  3. South Africa Turmoil: On this edition of Encounter, Ambassador Michelle Gavin, senior fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and former Ambassador to Botswana, and Frans Cronje, CEO of the … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  4. S.Africa’s Transnet says has identified and isolated the source of IT disruption: South Africa’s state-owned firm Transnet said on Friday it had identified and isolated the source of the disruption to its IT systems, which … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  5. Radicalism mixed with openness: How Desmond Tutu used his gifts to help end apartheid: The archbishop’s willingness to listen to those of a different viewpoint and his staunch opposition to violence made him a pivotal figure in the end of apartheid in South Africa, writes Andrew McGowan … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews

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Did you know this about Johannesburg? The Rissik Street Post Office was built in 1897, having been designed by the architect Sytze Wierda. The Post Office was at one time the tallest building in Johannesburg. The Post Office became a national monument in 1978, and it remained in operation until 1996 when the South African Post Office vacated the building. The monument was gutted by a fire in 2009. The old City Hall is opposite the Post Office in Rissik Street.

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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.