MyJHB

Stuff from Johannesburg

Ogilvy South Africa restructures creative leadership teams

Johannesburg in the news:

  1. Ogilvy South Africa restructures creative leadership teams: Ogilvy South Africa has restructured its creative leadership teams in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Current Loeries chairperson Tseliso Rangaka … – Google Alert – Johannesburg
  2. 'Customers' caught on CCTV in brazen R8m Sandton jewellery store heist: Staff members at upmarket jewellery store in Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, Johannesburg, were showing expensive watches and rings to an … – Google Alert – Johannesburg
  3. Johannesburg court sentences man to 25 years for house robbery: The Johannesburg Magistrate's Court has sentenced Sipho Sibisi, 42, to 25 years behind bars for house robbery. His accomplice Xolane Mlangeni, 30 … – Google Alert – Johannesburg
  4. Leopard caught roaming the streets of Benoni: It's a jungle out there. First it was a baboon jumping over roofs in Northcliff, Johannesburg. Now a leopard has been caught running around the Benoni … – Google Alert – Johannesburg
  5. Mkhwebane should be advised to resign, says pressure group: JOHANNESBURG – Pressure group Accountability Now said that if Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane was properly advised, she would resign … – Google Alert – Johannesburg

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Did you know this about Johannesburg? Even though Johannesburg is well over 120 years old (founded on 4 October 1886 during the gold rush), it is still one of the youngest major cities in the world.

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Sophiatown: The Lost “Paris of the Transvaal”

Sophiatown’s golden age was the 1940s and 50s. It was a dense, vibrant, and often dangerous neighborhood, characterized by “backyard” rooms, shebeens (illegal speakeasies), and a sophisticated social scene. It was the birthplace of Kwaito’s ancestors and the legendary “Marabi” music—a blend of traditional African rhythms and American ragtime. The streets were home to the most iconic figures of African literature and music: Miriam Makeba found her voice here; Hugh Masekela received his first trumpet from a local priest; and the writers of Drum magazine, like Can Themba and Bloke Modisane, used the neighborhood as their muse. They dressed in Fedora hats and double-breasted suits, channeling the style of Hollywood gangsters and Harlem intellectuals, creating a world that was cosmopolitain, intellectual, and radically multi-racial.

However, the “Bohemia” of Sophiatown was an existential threat to the National Party’s vision of total racial separation. The government viewed it as a “black spot” in a white area. In 1955, the state launched Western Areas Removal Scheme. On the morning of February 9th, 2,000 heavily armed police officers moved in, forcing families into trucks at gunpoint. They were relocated to the newly established matchbox houses of the South Western Townships (Soweto), 20 kilometers away. The resistance was led by figures like Trevor Huddleston, the Anglican priest whose church, St. Joseph’s, still stands today. Despite the slogan “Ons dak nie, ons pola hier” (We are not moving, we are staying here), the bulldozers were relentless.