Johannesburg Trolley Pusher Protest (2008)

posted by Ismail Farouk at Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Trolley pushing activity in the city provides a necessary service for people wanting to transport heavy baggage through the city. Most trolley pushers charge a fee of R20 for a single load, but are seldom paid more than R5 by streetwise customers who know that trolley pushers are in no position to bargain. The problem with the activity has been the illegal nature of the trolleys used as they are stolen from supermarket chain stores. However, the trolley pushers are not responsible for the theft of trolleys. Trolleys are supplied to pushers on the street by gangsters for a fee of R50.

Harassment by the police is also a problem. Every time a raid occurs, trolley pushers are fined R300 and trolleys are confiscated. Lately, raids have been occurring on Fridays, with trolley pushers being arrested over the weekend.

The trolley pusher protest was orchestrated in collaboration with the the trolley pushers of Joubert Park. The objective behind the action was to mobilize support for the formalisation of a representative trolley association. The protest took place at the vehicular entrance of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), a location synonymous with police activity. Since the protest, weekly meetings with the trolley pushers have been organised in aid of formalising their activities in the city.

Labels: Creative Response, Informal, JAG, Johannesburg, protest, Trolley Pushers, video art

Bad Buildings, Urban Management and Crime Control: The Case of the Fashion District

posted by Ismail Farouk at Sunday, February 24, 2008

Case Study by Ismail Farouk for the Migrants Rights Monitoring Project, special report No.2: Migrant Access to Housing in South African Cities. Report by Jennifer Greenburg and Tara Polzer, Forced Migration Studies Programme, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Fashion District in downtown Johannesburg is a contested inner city space. Despite signs of economic development, the ownership of many buildings is disputed, infrastructure is crumbling and levels of crime have long been high. The predominant business activity is controlled by Ethiopian and Eritrean asylum seekers and refugees who have taken control of high rise 'bad buildings' and adapted them to limit interaction with the dangerous sidewalk. The organisational structure within these buildings presents an innovative model for inner-city community-based crime and urban development management.

At the forefront of these initiatives is a refugee-run NGO called the 'Horn of Africa Crime Stop Association' which was formed after an Ethiopian trader was killed during a robbery in 2006. Through partnerships with the South African Police Services and the Central Johannesburg Property Company, the organisation is paying for supplementary security services which consist of 25 private guards who patrol an 8 block radius. The monthly cost to the organisation is R150,000, to which every trader and formal business in the area contributes. As a result, crime has been drastically reduced and business in the area is booming.

South African investors and chain stores are beginning to notice the business potential of the area served by the Horn of Africa Crime Stop Association, now that crime has been controlled. The development value of the area is on the increase and there is much activity by private sector housing companies who are redeveloping residential buildings for middle class South African families. However, for the Ethiopian and Eritrean businesses which started the crime-stop initiative, their success at starting the urban regeneration process may lead to their displacement. Many of the businesses are run by people who have not been able to access asylum or refugee documents, due to backlogs at the Department of Home Affairs' Refugee Reception Offices. This means they are unable to secure formal tenure or ownership of buildings, have no access to loans or local government economic development support, and are in practice confined to small geographic areas in the city for fear of being arrested and deported. In spite of the Horn of Africa Crime Stop Association's substantial private investment in security, its members and businesses are in danger of being pushed out rather than integrated into the future of the Fashion District.

Labels: Citizenship, Community, fashion district, gentrification, immigrants, Informal, informal trade, Johannesburg, migration, refugees, social networks, spatial justice, urban research

Yeoville: Overcrowding and Bad Buildings

posted by Ismail Farouk at Monday, July 30, 2007

Some evidence of overcrowding in Yeoville can be seen by the numerous advertisements offering various informal rental options on notice boards throughout Yeoville. With monthly room rentals which vary from R150 - R1000, sub-letting is the often the only housing option available to the urban poor. Sub-letting is made possible mainly through poor building management.Because dysfunctional practices contribute to overcrowding of buildings, they also lead to the total dysfunction of the housing stock.

Furthermore, there is a link between the growing informal economy and accommodation problems. A popular strategy for dealing with bad buildings in Yeoville has been for the City to acquire ownership through the expropriation of all the sections and the whole of the common property. The expropriated property is then sold under policies of the Better Buildings Programme. Whilst the benefits of the Better Buildings Programme include an improved quality of life for new tenants and property owners, existing tenants who are evicted as part of the expropriation process are not provided with alternative accommodation and are left homeless. Evicted residents from expropriated buildings are forcibly removed into the streets by the city's Wozani Security force.



The results of this violent action are demeaning and result in a loss of dignity and respect and ultimately criminal exploitation in the streets. Another problem associated with bad buildings is the lack of recognition for informal trade as a viable means of income if regulated and implemented in a controlled manner. Uncontrolled informal trading in residential buildings ultimately leads to the destruction of the building mainly because of a lack of infrastructure for dealing with the activity and its associated waste. Furthermore, the criminilisation of informal trade limits earning potential and therefore limits housing options to sub-letting and poor housing practices.

Labels: Citizenship, Housing, Informal, Network Approach, social networks, urban research, Yeoville