City of Johannesburg

1 644 km²

Population

It is considered that the City of Johannesburg is the municipality with the most lively and diversified cultures. Due to its location in Gauteng, the country's most prosperous province, it serves as the economic hub of South Africa. It is the financial hub of the African continent, home to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the biggest stock exchange on the continent and the 16th largest in the world (Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, n.d.), and it holds the most wealth on the continent, valued at $248 billion. The City of Johannesburg municipality covers about 1644 square kilometers (Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, n.d.). The area has well-developed highways and a railway system that carries commuters between the peripheries and the city.

Households

1 853 369 Households

According to Statistics South Africa (2016), there were about two-fifths of the figure in Gauteng: 4,951,135 about 10 percent of the figure in South Africa: 16,923,307

1 853 369 households in the City of Johannesburg, of which 18% were informal dwellings. 57% of the households were in official housing, 13% lived in backyard flats, 6% were in apartments, and the remaining 6% were not identified (ibid). Those who occupy abandoned buildings and live beneath bridges make up the remaining 6%. Given that the city has reached its carrying capacity, it has been suggested that the city can still anticipate an increase in the number of households, particularly so in the indeterminate and informal residences.

18% Households that are informal dwellings about the same as the rate in Gauteng: 17,74% about 1.4 times the rate in South Africa: 12,96%

According to Statistics South Africa (2016), there were 1 853 369 households in the City of Johannesburg, of which 18% were informal dwellings. 57% of the households were in official housing, 13% lived in backyard flats, 6% were in apartments, and the remaining 6% were not identified (ibid). Those who occupy abandoned buildings and live beneath bridges make up the remaining 6%. Given that the city has reached its carrying capacity, it has been suggested that the city can still anticipate an increase in the number of households, particularly so in the indeterminate and informal residences.

R29 400

Average annual household income about the same as the amount in Gauteng: R29 400 about the same as the amount in South Africa: R29 400

An average of R29 400 is earned annually in these households, of which 18% make zero. Families without a steady source of income rely on the cash they earn from informal trade and other types of part-time employment to get by. It is clear that the City of Johannesburg is more than just a municipality with an economy focused on the formal sector; some residents also depend on the unofficial sector for their livelihood. The annual household income varies greatly; the majority make between R10,000 and R150,000. Some only make about R5,000 or less.

Approximately 351 000 persons worked in the informal sector in 2018 compared to 225 000 in 2008, making up 8% of the employed population. A 32,9% unemployment rate, which has dramatically climbed since 2018, is now present in the city.

Crime

In 2018 (ibid), 52,6% of the economically active population was employed. 77% of those in this percentage work in the formal economy. The most populated sector within this one is finance, which employs over 26,1% of the workforce.

With a score of roughly 123, Johannesburg has the highest overall crime index (ibid). According to reports, property crime is the municipality's worst issue in certain areas. This group includes the robbery of structures

Johannesburg Inner City is theCentral Business District (CBD), which houses bank headquarters and provincial government buildings, is part of Region F. It serves as the city’s financial district. A manufacturing and warehouse hub is located in the area and is called Aeroton. There are a few modest estates in South Gate that are steadily changing but still serve as crucial agricultural links to the nearby metropolis of Ekurhuleni. The Alberton CBD, high to middle-income suburbs like Alberton, Raceview, Meyerton, Brackenhurst, Brackendowns, Verwoerdpark, and Newmarket Randhart, as well as middle to low-income areas like Thokoza, Katlehong, and Vosloorus, make up the region as a whole. To the east are areas like these that are home to the majority of people. Residential areas make up a substantial portion of region F’s land usage. It is additionally described as a compact area with a balance between the residential population and integrated industrial and commercial capability. The region’s population increased from 975 000 in 2012 to 1.08 million in 2017, and there were 301 000 households with an average of 3 individuals per household (Ekurhuleni municipality, 2015). In the region, there are 664 000 persons of working age (2012), 400 000 of whom are engaged in economic activity, and a labor force participation rate of 60.15 percent. There are 199 000 individuals working, of whom 175 000 work in the formal sector, 24 500 work in the unofficial sector, and 167 000 are unemployed (ibid).

Key Issues

Johannesburg Central business district (CBD) and surrounds have been noted as areas in decline. Doornfontein, Ellis Park, Jeppestown, and Johannesburg CBD are most populated by industries that are noted to be in decline. These industries have been hijacked by people who require housing in Region F. Over the years there has been a development of informal settlements around places of opportunity like the Johannesburg CBD. From the above map, the informal settlements are nearby these industrial areas that are in decline, because the informal dwellers believe that there is less monitoring and patrolling by state officials.

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LOCATING SITES OF Appropriation by Invasion in Johannesburg Inner City (PHOTO)

Informal Settlements Hijacked Buildings Informal Trading

StatsSA defines an informal settlement as ‘unplanned settlement on land which has not been surveyed or proclaimed as residential, consisting mainly of informal dwellings (shacks)’. Huchzermeyer et al (2014) attests that this form of residence has been ‘mushrooming’ or ‘ballooning’ within the boundaries of the City of Johannesburg. When it comes to the Inner City, people move there to find employment and when they don’t most of them decide to stay in Johannesburg in hopes of finding employment in the future. But their lack of financial resources inhibits them from accessing the housing stock available in Johannesburg resulting in them putting up informal living structures anywhere that they can for survival’s sake. Most informal settlements in the Inner City such as Booysen, Longdale, and Denver East squatter camp are located next to industrial areas. This goes back to what was mentioned about people staying in Johannesburg in hopes of finding work in the future.

Building hijacking is another form of appropriation by invasion identified in the inner city. The democratic dispensation was accompanied by a process of white capital flight from inner-city areas that left many building abandoned and blighted and in arrears. Through hijacking, these buildings have become home to tens of thousands of urban dwellers who are struggling to find better places to stay due to high unemployment and resultant financial instability. These urban dwellers consist mostly of both domestic and foreign migrants. They are subject to dreadful living conditions which are not suited for human occupation in these buildings because they are often in a state of extreme infrastructural dereliction with limited access to water, waste collection and electricity (Wilhelm-Solomon, 2021). They are also under constant threat of eviction. Some of them have been taken over by criminals who unlawfully collect rental monies from tenants through intimidation.

When work opportunities in the formal market fail to avail themselves, people find themselves involved in what is called the ‘hustling’ culture. There are various forms of the so-called hustling culture such as street vending and waste-picking and they involve the appropriation of space for capital gain. Street vending in particular has proliferated the sidewalks in the Inner City. This invasive appropriation of sidewalk space is particularly significant in places like Kwa Madunusa which is a street where hundreds of informal thrifting stalls have situated themselves even extending beyond the sidewalk into the middle of the street resulting in its disuse. There are also street vendors located in almost every corner of the city some sell fruits and vegetables while others sell things like African food. There is also a culture of recycling for an income, people pick recyclable waste and take it to informal recycling plants. This is how poor urban dwellers make a living to ensure their livelihoods.