MyJHB

Stuff from Johannesburg

Vaccine nationalism

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa in the news:

  1. Vaccine nationalism: Vaccine nationalism has become alarming, as politicians have criticized the previous US President Donald Trump for his ‘America First’ doctrine. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  2. Lesley Lokko on architecture, identity and race: Scottish-Ghanaian architect, Lesley Lokko reflects on her affinity for architecture, the future of architectural education and the enduring question of identity in the discipline. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  3. Gunshots and dreams: Powerful theatre captures the reality life for black men: In honour of Black History Month in the US, the Market Theatre in Johannesburg is staging Antoinette Nwandu’s ‘Pass Over’. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  4. How Pariti is connecting founders with capital, resources and talent in emerging markets: According to Startup Genome, Beijing, London, Silicon Valley, Stockholm and Tel Aviv are some of the world’s best startup ecosystems. Startup ecosystems from emerging markets excluding China and India … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  5. South Africa says in talks with African Union for vaccines for 10 mln people: South Africa is in negotiations with an African Union (AU) platform for COVID-19 vaccines for at least 10 million people, a top health official said on Friday. Sandile Buthelezi, Department of Health … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews

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Have you tried: Visiting Port Elizabeth?

Did you know this about Johannesburg? It’s home to almost half the world’s human ancestor fossils: The Cradle of Humankind is home to 40% of the planet’s human fossils, making it one of the richest archaeological sites in the world.

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The Randlord Mansions: History

The history of these mansions is also a story of urban warfare and preservation. In the 1960s and 70s, as Johannesburg expanded, many of the original Parktown estates were ruthlessly demolished to make way for the M1 Highway and the massive concrete campus of the Wits University Medical School. The “Parktown War” saw heritage activists fighting the bulldozers to save what remained of the city’s architectural soul. Today, several of the surviving mansions serve as corporate headquarters, schools, or museums, stripped of their private domesticity but preserved as monuments to a gilded age.

Interestingly, these mansions also played a secret role in the city’s political evolution. It was in the drawing rooms of Parktown that the “progressive” mining elite would meet to discuss the future of the country, often finding themselves at odds with the more conservative Boer government. Lady Florence Phillips, in particular, used her influence to found the Johannesburg Art Gallery, insisting that a world-class city needed world-class culture, not just gold bars. Today, walking the “Heritage Trail” through Parktown offers a haunting contrast; you stand in the quiet, manicured gardens of the victors, looking down at the pulsing, crowded city that their gold mines created. It is the ultimate “view from the top,” a reminder that the extreme wealth of Sandton today has its DNA rooted in the stone-and-timber palaces of the 1900s.