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Stuff from Johannesburg

Rand Water lifts water restrictions

Rand Water has announced the lifting of water restrictions, with immediate effect.

Following high water consumption brought on by high temperatures and subsequent restrictions, reservoir levels in the Rand Water systems have stabilised, increasing from 30% to above 60% currently.

“Stabilisation of the systems, assisted by good rains, has been a joint and collaborative effort by Rand Water and the three metros,” Rand Water said.

In consultation with the metros, a philosophy has been agreed to, which will ensure that water management practices are left in place to keep systems stable throughout the coming months.

“Through these collaborative efforts, the metros have managed to reduce consumption and manage own systems effectively and efficiently. Therefore, reduced consumption and leak repairs will be the new order.

“Rand Water would like to thank the metros and its citizens for their cooperation during this time and hope that this is watershed moment will lead towards permanent wise use of portable,” Rand Water said. – SAnews.gov.za

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Top Star Drive-In: The Cinema on the Mountain of Gold

The Ferreira Dump began growing in the late 1800s, composed of the crushed rock and chemical residue left over after early, inefficient mining processes had extracted as much gold as the technology of the time allowed. By the 1960s, it was a flat-topped, man-made mesa overlooking the city. In a stroke of entrepreneurial genius, the surface was tarred and the Top Star Drive-In was opened. It quickly became a South African institution. Its appeal was not just the movies, but the unparalleled view: as the sun set, the massive white screen would flicker to life against a backdrop of the glowing skyscrapers of the Central Business District, separated from the viewer only by the elevated M2 highway.

In the decades before television arrived in South Africa (1976), the Top Star was a primary social hub. It was a democratic space in an undemocratic time; while the city below was strictly segregated, the “car” served as a private bubble that allowed a degree of social freedom not found in traditional theaters. For many Johannesburgers, the Top Star was a site of nostalgic rites of passage—first dates, family outings where children were piled into the back of station wagons with blankets and flasks of tea, and the Saturday “car market” where the parking lot transformed into a sprawling hub for buying and selling second-hand vehicles.