Category Archives: johannesburg

The Sandmen of Kya Sands

Posted on September 18, 2012 by

Their battle honours stretch back over a century, but on this night the Rand Light Infantry were on a different mission. Rioting had broken out in the informal settlement of Kya Sands to the north west of Johannesburg. Foreigners had … Continue reading →

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RIP Prof Tobias

Posted on June 8, 2012 by

I met Prof Tobias in 1996 and back then he spoke about his fears for the human race. I still have some of those quotes he gave me that day. One of them was:” I am concerned about the plight … Continue reading →

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Zoo trot

Posted on February 26, 2012 by

A lion roars, and just maybe the beast makes some of those runners pump their legs a little faster. This lion resides in the middle of Joburg, but it is safely tucked behind some high walls and moat. All it … Continue reading →

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Artefacts in the city

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

  Unburied by highveld thunderstorms and the work of the Johannesburg Roads Agency, they emerge half a century later to annoy Joburg’s city drivers.   They are tram tracks that break the asphalt on Pritchard street, curve into Simmonds, then … Continue reading →

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Big fat Joburg

Posted on December 15, 2011 by

Vanity plates, cars the size of tugboats and egos bigger than orbiting planets. That is Joburg baby but then the men and women of this mining town have always had an inflated sense of importance, as writer Herman Charles Bosman … Continue reading →

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