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The once vibrant suburbs of Vrededorp and Fordsburg are getting a financial boost to spur redevelopment: new paving, improved lighting, on-street parking and the planting of trees is taking place.
The newly laid paving in Pageview, uplifting a long-neglected area
THE western edge of the CBD is getting a late Christmas present – some R25-million is being spent on street upgrades in Vrededorp, Pageview and Fordsburg.
The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) is overseeing the upgrade, consisting of putting down new paving, changing lighting, creating on-street parking and planting trees.
The vision for the area is broad – empowering the community by creating economic opportunities through upgrading the area; preserving and developing the heritage of the suburbs; developing public open space; providing housing of different types and tenures; improving safety and security in the area; and improving accessibility to the area by both pedestrians and motorists.
Work started in October last year, and is due to be completed in June.
Projects
The upgrade starts in De La Rey Street in Vrededorp, and runs south down the length of the street into Fordsburg, where it becomes Mint Road. The short Burghersdorp Street will also be revamped.
The square in the northern end of De la Rey Street is to be upgraded as well, with play equipment and a basketball court to be installed. Fordsburg Square is also to be upgraded, at a cost of R10-million, to accommodate the 287 traders in the square, but also to maintain an open space for the suburb's residents.
The entrance to the revamped suburbs will be indicated with a gateway, possibly labelled Fietas on one side, and Fordsburg on the other, the name given by the former residents to Pageview and Vrededorp. This gateway will be positioned at the railway bridge separating Fordsburg and Pageview, in De la Rey Street.
Discussion is ongoing about creating murals under the bridge, depicting the "historical life of Fietas and Fordsburg through such places as Queenspark Grounds and the still surviving fish and chips shop, 'Solly's Corner', and such people as poet Don Mattera and the famous socialite 'Dolly'", says Feizel Mamdoo, who was born in Fietas.
The mural painted in 2003 will be retained. "A significant festival event in 2003 was the community painting of a historical mural on the wall of the famous subway that links Fietas and Fordsburg. Rich in folklore, the subway assumed a persona of its own for the people of these sister areas. The mural project was led by graphic artist Reg Pakari," says Mamdoo.
The mural is based on photographs of former Drum photographer Gopal Naransamy, and is now a historical artefact in its own right, according to Mamdoo.
When more funding becomes available, a walkable course from Mint Street to the Oriental Plaza on the eastern edge of Fordsburg will be created, done by means of paving, new lighting and trees. Solomon Street and 8th Street will also be done in the future, says Celestine Mouton, development manager with the JDA.
Vrededorp and Pageview
Vrededorp and Pageview were formerly lively suburbs occupied by coloureds, Malays, Indians, Chinese and whites in the decades before the 1970s, when the apartheid monster moved in to demolish homes in the name of the Group Areas Act.
Vrededorp and Pageview are sandwiched between the Braamfontein and the Brixton cemeteries
Whites lived north of 11th Street, but all residents met in 14th Street, to shop and snap up bargains in the bustling street, famous for shops that spilled out on to the pavements. It was the only suburban street with shops on both sides for its whole length, with most of its buildings dating back to the 1930s.
"Many people in Johannesburg used to take foreign visitors to Pageview because the area had such a flavour of excitement about it. Like Diagonal Street in town, it was one of the very few spots with a character of its own," writes architect Manfred Hermer in his 1978 book The passing of Pageview.
In the 1970s shop owners were moved to the Oriental Plaza, where most still trade.
Since the demolition and removals the suburb has never really regained its sense of identity, with untidy open patches of land remaining where houses once stood, now spaces where open-air shebeens operate, littered with garbage. New houses, out of keeping with the distinctive columns-and-veranda style of the former houses, have sprung up, and businesses operate illegally from the garages of some of them.
Some of the old houses remain, testament to the determination and resilience of the original residents who simply refused to move. But like District Six in Cape Town, the injustice of the removals lingers, tainting the re-development of the two suburbs.
Land claims
The apartheid legacy is still an issue – who owned the properties and who is entitled to reclaim those properties. Since the 1970s odd pieces of land have been bought, serving to complicate the issue. Whereas land claims have been settled in Sophiatown and Alexandra, land claims in these two suburbs await final settlement.
The uncertainty around the settlement of claims has led to the neglect of the suburbs.
Mamdoo says that there is now a problem that the number of plots available does not match the number of claimants.
Mamdoo says that people have now been forced to draw numbers out of a box. "We have drawn stand numbers from a hat," he says. But it will be another year before the issue is settled by national government.
Mamdoo decries the process, saying communication with the community has not always been open.
Original 14th Street house
Salma Patel, who was born in 15th Street and grew up in 21st Street, lives with her brother in the only remaining original house in 14th street, a typical example of a home where the shop owner lived above his ground-floor shop. She says the house was built in 1938.
The lone and bold Patel house in 14th Street
(Photo: Clive Hassall)
She bought the property in 1987 – it originally consisted of three small flats, each consisting of two rooms and a kitchen, with a communal bathroom and toilet on the back veranda.
Patel has renovated and combined two of the flats, creating an en-suite bedroom, a small study, a small dining room and lounge, and a kitchen. Her brother has taken the flat next door to her.
Her flat retains many of its original features: wooden floors and doors, beautifully restored, pressed steel ceilings, and a wood and tile fireplace. Her front windows contain unique stained-glass and most of the original translucent glass.
Perhaps one of the best features of the house is the long upstairs veranda, supported by columns from the pavement, with a view of the city skyline. Patel says the wide veranda has been the venue of several parties, offering a perfect space for party-goers.
The beautiful original stained and opague glass off the long balcony of the house
(Photo: Clive Hassall)
The downstairs shop was a men and women's clothing retailer, Surtee, but when she moved in the shop was boarded up. The space is now taken by an architectural firm.
Hermer quotes Aboo Surtee in his book: "My grandfather came to South Africa in 1896 and settled down in Rustenburg. My father came to Fourteenth Street in 1933, selling imported piece goods and silks. We expanded into men's clothing and in 1960 we opened another store in Market Street. Now we are operating in Commissioner Street, the Pageview shop has been transferred to the Oriental Plaza and we also have a small store in Benoni."
Surtee still exists as an exclusive men's clothing boutique.
Removals
Patel says of the removals: "The human spirit is unbelievably resilient. Turning this building around is testament to that."
She explains that what the apartheid regime had on their side was people's desire to have a home on their own, without shared bathroom facilities. When offered this people were enticed into taking the new houses, even if it meant they had to travel 40 kilometres from Lenasia, to the CBD.
Patel is passionate about Vrededorp. "It is home, it is my base with roots and identity. It is the only home I've ever known. It is a place of transition in history, and where I fit into the whole dynamic. Vrededorp is just magic. It's ambience, connectivity is what formed me as a human being."
But, at the same time Patel would like to see an improvement in the suburb, but is not optimistic that the government is sufficiently motivated to move forward the process of settling land claims. "They need to put their money where their mouth is."
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