#Hillbrow

I took a quick photowalk through Hillbrow and Yeoville this morning with my friend Ruth and some guys from the Hillbrow Boxing Club, including my boxing coach George Khosi. I’m saving most of the photos I took for a project that I’ll be revealing soon. But I took a few special shots for this post.

Actually, “jumped around like a maniac” is a better description of what I did. But you know what I mean.

This is Jovi, lead singer of a band from Soweto called BCUC. He made me jump around like a maniac.

On Tuesday evening I received this text message from George Khosi, coach of the Hillbrow Boxing Club:

there is an accident at the gym the ring is damaged by a tax coach

My recent tour of Ponte City, hosted by Mainstreetwalks and Dlala Nje, included a Saturday-afternoon stroll in Hillbrow. I go to Hillbrow at least a couple of times a week for boxing training but I don’t walk around the neighborhood with my camera very often, especially not on weekends when the streets are most busy. So I was excited for this opportunity.

Ponte City is a mythical place.

Ponte City, the tallest residential building in Africa.

Ponte City is the most visually striking structure in Johannesburg, and its history is as fascinating as its appearance. Ponte has 54 floors and hundreds of flats. A few decades ago it was a trendy middle-class apartment building. Later it became the city’s largest brothel and dope den, ruled by gangs, thugs, pimps, and dealers.

At long last, I got into Ponte.

I’ll write a longer post about this epic visit, which happened courtesy of Mainstreetwalks, in the next few days. In the meantime, here are a few Instagrams.