Last year when I was in Jozie in July 2022, South Africa was just coming out of the Covid restrictions and the mask mandate was dropped (Ironically I arrived on the 27th of June a Monday and by Thursday I had Covid.
Getting back to the post, most people were still working from home so the traffic in Jo'burg was a dream. We won't go into loadshedding in this post.
It was my first trip back home since 2019 when I was still really sick and before that it had been 5 years since we had been back. I was travelling on my own as hubby had been back twice that year to see his dad who had been really ill and subsequently passed away.
D's nephew had been dying to show me Maboneng and some of the other new places in Jo'burg that were really trendy - 44 Stanley to name one.
I know there is so much negativity when people talk about Jozie, and I used to be one of those people, however I have learnt that every place changes, it will never remain the same. Just like anywhere in the world there are changes for the better and then changes that are not so great.
The changes that happened in Jozie, we let this happen - when things started changing people just moved out, exactly what has happened recently as well, all the big businesses have moved out of Jo'burg city to Rosebank and Sandton which has left Jo'burg to become empty and derelict in some areas. So someone came along and created Maboneng from derelict buildings & warehouses on the Eastern side of Johannesburg city, and made it arty and trendy - Well done! I just read that it was a property developer Jonathan Liebmann, hopefully Johannesburg City will too, one day become a really him area to live in, just as it was back in the 50's.
I love coming home to Jo'burg and seeing the improvements that have been made and I love the vibe, especially in places like Rosebank which is not far from Jo'burg city!
Here are some photos I took on my trip back in 2022.
2 comments:
Hello Rozie!
I was delighted to rediscover your blog and to see that you're still going strong!
Your memories of Bus No. 45 brought back memories of our bus no 44 that went from South Hills , through Roseacre and stopped at Regents Park outside the cafe where I jumped on at 6:30 a.m. during varsity years. It took us through to the bus terminus near Rissik Street from where it was a mad dash through town to get the Parktown bus that stopped in Braamfontein near Wits.
I wish I'd remembered that you lived in Dublin as we visited that lovely city last year .
All the best and please keep the blogs coming!
~ Sonja
Sonja, I hope you read this message, thank you so much for your message it was lovely to see that my blog is still being read. It would have been lovely to meet you in Dublin, did you go to the Hill? Please email me if you can my email address is Rose - Marie . Rowe @ live . ie without the spaces of course :)
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