I arrived in Hillbrow in 1988 – a time when apartheid’s architecture still governed not only our streets but our souls. I moved there illegally, in open defiance of the Group Areas Act. My presence, like that of many others, was an act of resistance, of reclaiming both space and dignity. Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville were not just geographical locations, they were an urban crucible where the struggle for liberation intertwined with the birth of a new urban identity.
This was a time when the precinct pulsated with cultural audacity. Hillbrow’s skyline, once a symbol of European exclusivity, began to shimmer with African expression. Yeoville, in particular, was our playground and parliament. I remember those days vividly: the scent of our cuisine wafting from the eateries on Rocky Street; the voices of reggae musicians rising in unison on Tandoori’s ragga nights; and the meditative blues of Monday nights at Time Square – where jazz became a form of therapy, a language of healing, and a soundtrack to our post-liberation uncertainties.
So, I was part of a generation reclaiming space and identity in the heart of a city finding its voice amid apartheid’s slow disintegration. What drew me then was not just the physical space, but the cultural heartbeat – jazz spilling out of apartment windows, impromptu poetry sessions in smoky clubs, and the vibrancy of a community that refused to be boxed into silence or submission.
In that world, culture wasn’t a luxury – it was our daily bread.
At the Jungle Connection, we curated more than exhibitions – we curated identities. It was here that Julius “Makweru” Moeletsi sparked a poetry revolution. Young voices came alive in cadence and metaphor, reimagining their realities through spoken word. My gallery became a refuge for radical creativity, a space where art met activism and dreams were not postponed but painted in bold strokes. Later, we extended this cultural footprint to Yeoville’s Rocky Street – transforming a troubled corridor into a beacon of artistic resistance and renewal.
This precinct was once the epicentre of Johannesburg’s cultural cosmopolitanism – a place where social cohesion wasn’t theorised in policy papers, but lived in daily rituals. Jazz nights echoed through venues like Time Square on Monday Blues evenings, where saxophones told stories of heartbreak and hope.
But then came the unraveling.
By 2000, crime and decay pushed many of us out. I left not because the spirit had died, but because I feared for my children. As a father, I had to choose safety over sentiment. I moved to President Park in Midrand, carrying memories that felt like ghost stories – beautiful but haunted. Like so many former residents, I mourned the loss of a once-glorious precinct.
But cities, like people, evolve. They break. They heal.
After years spent working across Pretoria, Polokwane, and Milan, I returned to Johannesburg in 2016, settling in Killarney and later Norwood. What I encountered was both familiar and strange. The decay still lingered in places, but so did resilience. And slowly, almost imperceptibly, a revival began to stir. New street markets were emerging. Artists were reclaiming wall space. Young poets and musicians were finding their way back into the pulse of the city.
Today, as Johannesburg repositions itself as Africa’s economic and cultural capital, the regeneration of the Hillbrow-Berea-Yeoville corridor must be central to this vision. This is not a vanity project – it is a moral and strategic imperative. In a world increasingly fragmented by inequality and cultural erasure, these spaces offer blueprints for authentic social cohesion. Not merely as a site of historical memory, but as a canvas of possibility – an urban soul yearning to be remastered.
This corridor can – and must – be a cornerstone in the re/engineering of brand Johannesburg. Let us invest in safe, accessible cultural precincts that anchor public memory and invite global curiosity. Let us revive Rocky Street not as a relic of the past, but as a promenade of possibility. Let the art galleries return. Let the poetry slams echo once more. Let jazz pour out of windows, and let performance spaces become incubators of a new urban Renaissance.
The spirit of this place was never lost. It was merely waiting for a city brave enough to believe in its people again.
As a former resident, a father, a cultural curator, and a brand architect, I believe the renaissance of this precinct is vital to Johannesburg’s own redemption story. In the re/engineering of brand Johannesburg, this corridor must not be seen as Johannesburg’s past – it must be recognised as the pilot of its future: complex, layered, and richly human. The jazz never stopped playing. We just need to turn the volume up again.
I believe. Because I lived it. And I may be ready to live it again.
Tujenge Afrika Pamoja! Let’s Build Africa Together!
Enjoy your weekend.
Saul Molobi (FCIM)
PUBLISHER: JAMBO AFRICA ONLINE
and
Group Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
Brandhill Africa™
Tel: +27 11 759 4297
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