Hillbrow: An African country without borders

Hillbrow: Migrant destination across Africa..............................................................................3

Job opportunities in Hillbrow as the major pull for migrants from other provinces...................4

Hillbrow: Destination for working and learning commuters across Gauteng............................5

The economic nodes that attract people in Johannesburg......................................................6

Residents from other municipalities in search for greener pastures in Johannesburg CBD....7

The greener pastures in Hillbrow and Johannesburg CBD......................................................8

Hillbrow: Migrant destination across Africa

Introduction

This document aims to look into Sweet land block as the African country without border, meaning it is in within a cosmopolitan surburb called Hillbrow that is full of people of different ethnicities.Additionally this work will assess the greener pastures that they are looking for and look into the issues / ‘stones’and ‘bones’ they face in everyday. Most important this work is to show that Africa can be united by space.The block that will be dissected is named sweet land block, because it is largely populated by people from other countries that moved into Hillbrow hoping for better economic opportunities. Migrants are from different parts of Africa, such as Nigeria, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Malawi, hoping for better living conditions and this has resulted to densification in Hillbrow.

The block is situated in Gauteng that is a mostly populated province with 13,4 million people (Census, 2016). Diversities of individuals migrate from different province because of access to better educational facilities.

South Africa: Migration destination- hope for better way of living

Top 10 wealthiest cities in Africa

3.Egypt, Cairo (2,750 trillion

Major sectors: Real estate, financial services, basic material and construction

South Africa

South Africa: With the highest pull factor index

Migration direction

Distribution of International migrants in South Africa

Sweet land block

https://tinyurl.com/yrt67t8p

Wealthies countries Pull cities

GDP growth in South Africa as a pull factor

South Africa has an annual GDP growth of 4.9%, coming from the major sectors that reside in the country. Therefore, people migrate from other countriest to South Africa because they hope for better employment opportunities and better living conditions.

Tertiary sector is the most functional sector in South Africa, and it is what seems to be attracting people into cities.

(Statistics South Africa, 2015)

https://tinyurl.com/2uymh92e(Accessed: 23 May 2023)

5.Durban (1,08 trillion) Major sectors: Real estate, finance, healthcare, retail, construction and transport.

2. Cape Town (3,045 trillion Major sector: real estate, financial services, retail and tourism

1.Johannesburg ( 5, 5 trillion) Hub for financial services, professional services

4. Nigeria, Lagos (2,122 trillion) Major sectors: basic materials, real estate, construction, telecommunications, transport and financial services.

6. Kenya, Nairobi (1,061 trillion)

7. Angola, Luanda (9,62 billion)

8. Pretoria (9,43 billion)

9. Morocco, Casablanca (8,25 billion)

10. Ghana, Accra (7,46 billion)

(Mulugeta, &Nyasulu, 2020)

Job opportunities in Hillbrow as the major pull for migrants from other provinces

Major leading sectors that attract migrants into Gauteng and their contributions to GDP:

25%- Finance, real estate and business services

15% -Manufacturing

13%- Trade, catering and accomodation

Foreign nationals or other foreign individuals migrate to Gauteng and leave other leading provinces such as Kwazulu Natal and Western Cape. This is because Guateng is an economic powerhouse. Finance, real estate and business services, trade, catering, acconomodation, and manufacturing are the greatest contributors to the economic GDP.

Migrants see Gauteng as a province that can improve their living conidtions and its where they can get better educational facilities.

Gauteng: as a migration destination for migrants from other provinces

Gauteng: The mega node that attracts migrants

(Drewes &Brand, 2020)

Hillbrow: Destination for working and learning commuters across Gauteng

City of Johannesburg has a population of 5 304 240 people. It is a well known metropolitan municipality for its different economic opportunities both formal and informal.It is home for the wealthy and poor people.

In Johannesburg 38% of the population have matric but when comparing the proportion to higher education,individuals with higher education fall within the 22%.

It is also recorded that 16.8% have income, the main question then comes in on ‘how are these indviduals making a living?’

Distribution of migrants in Gauteng

Different economic hubs in Gauteng that are attract people

Economic hubs

1. Vanderbijlpark: Sedibeng

Tourism, agriculture and agroprocessing, logistics.

2. Pretoria: Tshwane

Automotive hub, agriculture and agroprocessing, aerospace, innovation.

3. Johannesburg: Central Finance, ICT, Retail and Business Services.

4. Thokoza: Ekurhuleni

Advanced manufacturing, transport and logistics, machinery and capital equipment.

(Gauteng Province, 2020).

2455175_Sojanga_Sinalo

2487121_Ndude_Siyabulela

Work, and education the main purpose for commuting to the COJ

Expanding unempolyment rate in Gauteng

There is an expanding unemployment in Gauteng that is caused by the increase in population due to migration.

The surroundings of City of Johannesburg are affected more, as the municipality is the main attractor to migrants and commuters.

City of Johannesburg Hillbrow Informal hubs

Economic hubs

(Gauteng Province, 2020)

Sweet land block

The economic nodes that attract people in Johannesburg

Direction of commuting and distance away from Johannesburg economic hub

Most populated areas in Johannesburg

Soweto deals with cash-intensive businesses, which include restaurants, taverns, retailers and services such as bread and breakfast.Inner city has retail trading business, mostly populated by informal trading businesses. Sandton is maily focused on retail markets, tourism and businesses services. Alexandra is an example of a township that survives on informal economy. (Nemavunde,

Increase in commercial, industrial and informal trading structures

2455175_Sojanga_Sinalo

2487121_Ndude_Siyabulela

Population increase in Johannesburg

Racial groups in Joburg

0-50% Populated 51-100% populated

18% Unemployed

27% not economically active

Sweet land block https://tinyurl.com/ytjhb4sk (Accessed: 23 May 2023

3% Discouraged to work Johannesburg has about 77% of people who work in formal sector, and 8% in informal sector.

L- Hillbrow

K- Randburg

M- Soweto

I- Alexandra

Hillbrow

Residents from other municipalities in search for greener pastures in Johannesburg CBD

Johanneburg inner city the destination for commuters

It is evident that region F is a migration destination. As the percentage of people from the province Gauteng are less (19%) than people coming from other provinces and outside South Africa.

Out of the 43 192 people in Ward 123, 32% of that population are from outside South Africa, and 49% are from other provinces.

There is quite a significant pecrentage of people who work in the formal sector, which is about 72% of the economically active population.

Then from the data, this document will look at the conditions that the 28% that works in informal sector have to go through everyday of their lives in the streets.

Region F has the highest job opportunities and its unemployment rate is under 20%.

Johannesburg inner city and Hillbrow

The greener pastures in Hillbrow and Johannesburg CBD

As the migrants and commuters in Johannesburg travel for better living conditions. They easily access these opportunties as they are surrounding the station where they stop at. Those who get of from these taxis in taxi ranks such as Zimbabwe, Ivory,MTN and Metro taxi rank, they already see street traders as they are mostly located in places with alot of people.

FNB bank city ,Carlton center are places that they easily see when arriving to Johannesburg CBD. These are the kinds of places where they undersytand that they can get the job opportunities they want and improve their living conditions.

Node: MTN Noord taxi rank

Places with the job opportunities

https://tinyurl.com/2s3v9fe3

Node: Gandhi sqaure

‘phanda’ palace: small street

https://tinyurl.com/323jm8zh

2455175_Sojanga_Sinalo

Sweet land block

Main routes used by commuters

Ward 123

Pedestrians

Car and pedestrian movement

Johannesburg

Car congestion and pedestrians

Destination of commuters in Ward 123

Area: 108 ha

Population: 74, 131

Population Density: 69 00000/ha

Out of the 43 192 people in Ward 123, 32% of that population are from outside South Africa, and 49% are from other provinces. Ward 123 has 60% of people from South Africa, 30% of migrants from Southern African Development countries (SADC). The remaining 10% is unspecified as some people migrate illegally to other countries. Hillbrow is one of the places that are largely populated by this 10% of unspecified people.

People commute to educational facilities such as University of Joahnnesburg in Dornfontein. They use taxi and get to nodes such as Durban, Enkomeni and Ellis Park taxi rank. This results to an increase in number of people inthe surroundings.

Within Hillbrow Lesotho taxi rank, and Ivory as seen to be the destinations or rather nodes to the commuters. These taxi ranks influence informal trading to take place in those surroundings

Sweet land Block

Unsecified people

South Africans SADC

Region of birth in ward 123

Unspecified 10%

South Africa

60%

Southern African Development Community

30%

2455175_Sojanga_Sinalo

2487121_Ndude_Siyabulela ARPL3030

Node: Ellis park stadium

Johanneburg inner city the destination for commuters https://tinyurl.com/3b547rm7

Destination:University of Johannesburg Node: Durban taxi rank

Places of interest

Residential buildings

Hillbrow: destination for commuters and residents https://tinyurl.com/ddaeaes2(

Destination: Gateway student accom

https://tinyurl.com/5n7494uf

The

Sweet land block is the selected site for this task. The block is located just opposite a big taxi rank called MTN Noord Taxi rank and in the same street as Lesotho Taxi rank. This block is accessed by people from different parts of Gauteng and South Africa, and results to increase in number of people surrounding the block.

The existing taxi ranks , promote easy access to people coming from outside South Africa , from other provinces and also from Lesotho, because of the existing taxi ranks in the neighborhood.

The different places where they work and reside in:

1- taxi rank 1

2-Lesotho Taxi rank

3-MTN Noord taxi rank

4- Park Central Shopping centre

5- MTN butchery

6- Derry Mansions

7- Siesta butchery

8-business burg hotel informal trading in sidewalks

meat(Sweetness) they came to taste: where they work and reside

Informal trading Sweet land Block

Plein street

Lillian Ngoyi street

Work spaces Taxi rank

Size of the Area of study- Hillbrow

Dimensions of Sweet land block

Sweet land block has an area of 0.744 ha. The block has a length that is 93m and width is 80m. Sweet land block has 52 parking bays all around the block, according to City of johannesburg land use scheme 2018 , a business block must have 5 bays per 100 sqaure metres.

The planning of Hillbrow was not meant for the capacity that it is carrying now.According to calculation the block was suppose to have about 370 parkings.

Dimensions of sweet land block

Area= 0.744 ha

Dimensions of Parking spaces

The darker the colour the higher the population density

Population density for building B

Population density for building C

Population density for building A

Coverage, floor area ratio of ‘sweet land’ and building typologies- Hillbrow

The block is 0.744ha in area, and the buildings add up to 0.5 ha in total. That means 0.244 ha of the block is a sidewalk and the enclosed alleyways. Sweet land block has buildings that fill up more than one plot.The buildings that fills up more than one plot have higher floor are ratio, because they have more floors.Buildings in this block have an average of 5 floors. As much as the block has an area of 0.744 ha, it has about six buildings that have multiple storeys.

More than 70 % of the plots are fully covered by buildings. Most plots are equal in length and width, about 30m in length and 15m in width.

for all buildings

Plots Sewerage lines Water line

Coverage and typology for building A

Coverage and typology for building B Coverage and typology for building C

Coverage and typology

Table: Individual building measurements Servitudes and plots in Sweet land block

Coverage and typology of building D Coverage and typology of building E Coverage and typology of building F

Zoning and building uses in Sweet land block

Current building uses Sweet land block is currently zoned as bussiness 1 and residential 4.

Business 1 is a commercial zoning business, that applies to general businesses such as retail, in a form of shopping centres and malls. This category is not restricted to the type of business that tenants can allow, hence why we have the block has many pakistan or spaza shops.

The block has many spaza shop, that sell basic household grocery like, vegetables, fruits, and bread. It also has auto parts store that sells spares for cars, and wholesale stores.

The block is zoned to be Residential 4, which allows for a density of between 41-120 dwellings per hectare, as according to city’s planning schemes.But as according to the calculated population density the block has about 264 dwellings in the tallest building with 12 floors.

Zoning information

Mixed use buildings: Residential 4 and Business 1

Retail Residential flats

Spaza shops / autoparts Apartment flats

shop in Sweet land block

Life within the buildings

The groundfloors in the block are used for retail. The block is mostly populated by spaza shops, because the owners want to make more profit, and spend. While others cannot afford rentals, they sleep in their shops.

The way residents and other migrants live in Hillbrow is an indication that an African country can exist without border. The residents can share a room with someone coming from another country.

Mixed use buildings

There are instance where small apartments in Hillbrow, house more than the number required. One person signs the lease agreement but then have his/her own renters which pay money to him. These apartments are also ways of making money for people in Hillbrow.

Subdivision

Curtain used as a room divider

Room divider

Different greener pastures in Sweet land block

Sweet land block is a place that has a definition of ‘ukuphanda’ (Hustling). It has mobile and stationery street vendors in sidewalks selling fruit, vegetables and snacks,some are selling traditional attire. There are recyclers, and as much as they are working to get some sort of income, they are helping in keeping the streets of Hillbrow clean.

One main issue with people who cannot seem to find employment, they end up being involve in crime such as pick-pocketing people, hijacking cars, others are working as prostitutes. That is the main issue that Hillbrow is faced with.

Lindi: Prostitute

Pedestrians

Location of different users of the space

Maxwell: Recycler

Luxolo:Mobile street trader

Marcus: Car guard Nosipho: Street trader selling traditional attire

2455175_Sojanga_Sinalo 2487121_Ndude_Siyabulela

Street trader selling fruit and vegetables

Crime because of no jobs

Life within the African country without borders

People in Sweet land block are a true representation on an African country without borders. The block is full of people who are from different countries of Africa and provinces who all share the same vision of improving their lives. They continue to live in this block making money out of it throught different kinds of businesses, such as street trading, spaza shops, recycling, car gaurding and renting out rooms to others. The block is a true definition of a rainbow nation that the late Nelson Mandela had envisioned. Additionally it depicts that boundaries between countries do not mean anything and home languages, because we all share similar vision.

Apartments for rental ‘Ukuphanda palace’Where money is made through street trading, recycling, and guarding cars. Twist road: the conveyor belt to the African country without borders

Dilapidated walls, representing urban decay.

2455175_Sojanga_Sinalo

2487121_Ndude_Siyabulela

Use of big brands to attract customers

Signage: Resemblance of the township spaza shopanother area where hustlers are found

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that sweet land block is a migration destination. This is promoted by the fact that it is located in refion F Johannesburg, which is within one of the economic leading cities in Africa. Gauteng has been recorded as one of the attracting provinces to people from other countries and provinces, due to its contribution to GDP and the econpomy at large. Therefore, migrants and commuters in Johannesburg embark on a journey to the city for better living condtions. Sweet land blcok is then the targeted block because it is close to a taxi ranks such as Zimbabwe, Ivory, MTN and Metro taxi ranks. Street trading is what they first encounter to the block as this business is mostly located where there is alot of people. As more people of different ethinicities are coming into Sweet land block they then create this African country without borders. This work has demonstrated the different sweetness( opportunities) they create for themselves and the conditions they end up having to encounter while searching for better way of living.

Special thanks and acknowlegement

A special thanks to our beloved lecturer Mr Nkosilentle Mavuso for the lessons taught in the progress of our work. This semester has taught us that all work is expressed differently and can be efficiently potrayed so that it capturers the essence of urban space in all context. This emakhoneni task has equipped us to contextualize data into spatial information that guides readers what is the uniqueness of localities in our chosen block.

Bantubonse, Y.B., (2008). Bringing Order to the City: Informal Street Trading in the Johannesburg CBD (Doctoral dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand).

Bénit-Gbaffou, C.,(2018). Beyond the policy-implementation gap: How the city of Johannesburg manufactured the ungovernability of street trading. The Journal of Development Studies, 54(12), pp.2149-2167.

Brand, A & Drewes,E.,(2020) Structuring South Africa’s national economic space: A regional corridor network model approach

Census 2011: Statistics South Africa., (2011) South African Population Census 2011. Indicators derived from the full population Census <https://wazimap.co.za/profiles/ward-79800123-city-ofjohannesburg-ward-123-79800123/>.

Crush, J., Williams, V. and Peberdy, S., (2005). Migration in southern Africa. Policy analysis and research programme of the Global Commission on International Migration.

City of Johannesburg.,(2018) Land Use Scheme, www.joburg.org.za

Department: Economic Development,. (2020) City of Johannesburg: Economic Profile & Performance.

Gauteng Disability Summit,.(2020) GROWING GAUTENG TOGETHER: Vision, Priorities and Action Plans of the Gauteng City Regions2019 to 2030

Gauteng Provincial Government.,(2019) SOCIO-ECONOMIC REVIEW AND OUTLOOK. Gauteng province treasury

Geospatial Information Services.,(2021) Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria

Johnston, S., (2008). Immigrants in Johannesburg: Estimating numbers and assessing impacts. Centre for Development and Enterprise.

Landau, L.B. and Gindrey, V., (2008). Gauteng 2055 trend paper: Population & migration. report compiled for the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, Forced Migration Studies Programme, Johannesburg.

Lehohla, P., 2015. Census 2011: population dynamics in South Africa. Statistics South Africa, 1-112.

Masuku, T.G., (2016). Does the spirit of ubuntu exist in the minibus taxi industry: a form and function of the socio-economic lives of queue marshals in Bree taxi rank, Johannesburg? (Doctoral dissertation).

Mahofa, G., (2018). The spatial dimensions of economic activity in South Africa: the role of regional policy, crime and the business environment

. Melachrinos,C.Carammia,M.& Wilkin,T.,(2020) migration in west and north africa and across the mediterranean:trends, risks, development and governance.

Moyo, A., (2005). Local Economic Development in Alexandra: A Case study of women in the informal sector (Doctoral dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand).

Municipality, O.T.D., (2020). Profile and Analysis District Development Model. South Africa Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

Nemavunde,M., (2021). Analysis of Transport based on GHS 2019: Joburg Compared to Other Gauteng Metros, Group Strategy, Policy Coordination and Relations

Ngobeni, J.M., 2014). Migrant characteristics and migration patterns to Gauteng (2001-2011) (Doctoral dissertation).

Oosthuizen, M. and Naidoo, P., (2004). Internal migration to the Gauteng Province.

Peberdy, S., (2015). GCRO Data Brief: No. 5.

Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission, (2012). A summary of the South African national infrastructure plan. Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission, South Africa, available at http://www. gov. za/issues/nationalinfrastructure-plan (accessed 25 May 2023)

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, (2018). Draft National Spatial Development Framework.

Risimati, B., Gumbo, T. and Chakwizira, J., (2021). Spatial Integration of Non-Motorized Transport and Urban Public Transport Infrastructure: A Case of Johannesburg. Sustainability, 13(20), 11461.

Skinner, C., (2016). Informal Sector Employment: Policy Reflections. Critical Analysis of the Current South African Informal Sector Policy Landscape: Preliminary Findings, 122.

Statistician-General: Statistics South Africa., (1999). TOURISM Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban International Airports.

STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA.,(2020) National Household Travel Survey

Silverman,M & Zack,T., (2005) land use management and democratic governance in the city of johannesburg, CASE STUDY:HILLBROW & BEREA.

So-owuna, D.R., (2009). “ Social hot spot”: a youth center in Hillbrow (Doctoral dissertation).

Unicef., (undated). MIGRATION PROFILES