Durban Beachfront in Covid 19 Lockdown

Photo John Robinson

Durban Beachfront in Total Covid 19 Lockdown.

South Africa is taking the call of President Cyril Ramaposa seriously, freelance photographer John Robinson cycled the length of the Durban beachfront in total isolation, meeting no one except for a few security guards and police. The public pools of Wedge Beach now have a post-apocalyptic feel to them.

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Public Space

Near 29,50.8123S and 31,2.2053E there is a open air gym. This gym is one of many city open air gyms in Durban, these gyms are free to use and are provided by the local council. The gyms are basic and work with the body weight of the user. The Durban beach front is the domain of the casual visitor during the day, in the late afternoons and evenings it is the domain of fitness groups who use the area for running, cycling, weight training and beach soccer.

Photos by John Robinson

Swimming Mask, Flip Flops and Bandaged Foot…

Photo John Robinson

Two holiday makers absorb the last of the winter’s sun on the paving of a northern Durban beach.

Around The Buhe Flames in Durban

Photo John Robinson.

Buhe is celebrated with flames, around 19 August each year the Ethiopian Coptic community light a bonfire in the remembrance of the transfiguration of Christ as in Matthew 17:2. St Mary’s Ethiopian Coptic Church, South Beach, Durban, South Africa.

Under The M4, Durban With A ‘M6

Photo John Robinson

A man goes cycling through an underpass on a mountain bicycle on a Durban winter Sunday afternoon.

Xenophobia On The Streets of Durban

Crowded in Between a Landlord And Fear of Xenophobia in the Streets of South Africa. Photo John Robinson

The Madiengua family lives in an overcrowded flat in the Point area of Durban, South Africa or “Little Nigeria” as it is locally known.

This family lives with their personal belongings packed in plastic bags in case of immediate eviction by the landlord of their building in the Point area of Durban, South Africa, Paty Madiengua stands with his wife Yvette and 4 children L to R Ephraim (15), Sabrina (14), Geffrey (10) and Genesis (2) in the kitchen of their flat ready be on the move again.

Yvette comes from the village of Buta in Oriental Province, DRC. her parents were killed by the DRC army, she escaped to Kinshasa with her brother and sister where her brother went missing. Yvette met Paty who worked as an egg vendor on the streets of Kinshasa and followed him to South Africa with their 4 children.

Paty works the night shift as a security guard in the city and Yvette sells clothes on the beachfront. Mr Madiengua’s salary does not match up to the rent on their 14th floor flat, the landlords in the area are getting rid of families on the overcrowding rule. While the Madiengua family feel safe in their flat they struggle to keep up with the rent and the cost of a family and they are “fearful of the xenophobia in the townships”.

 

ZAKIFO @ Warehouse, Durban

ZAKIFO Music Festival at The Werehouse. Blinky Bill (Kenya) Alibombo (Colombia), bheki Nqoko and Buhlebendalo.

Photo John Robinson

At the ZAKIFO Music Festival at The Warehouse, Tune Recreation Committee preforms. Thanks to Publicity Matters for the tickets.

Internal Displacement Camps

Ekuthuleni Transit Camp in Durban, South Africa sits on a slope in T Section of Umlazi. The camp is next to a grave yard, above a sewage processing plant and just underneath high tension power lines and in the words of Bheki Mngadi a resident of the camp “there is an uneasiness to this place” – John Robinson

Banele Khosa @ Looking For Love, DAG, South Africa

Banele Khosa, opening of ‘Looking For Love’ at Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa.

Banele Khosa, opening of ‘Looking For Love’ at Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa.

Banele Khosa, opening of ‘Looking For Love’ at Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa.

photos John Robinson.

Banele Khosa Stands With His Acrylic and Ink on Canvas Art Work I Am Sorry I Doubted You in the Durban Art Gallery. 21 May 2019, Durban, South Africa.

Freedom Day Walk, Durban

People across Durban celebrated 25 years of democratic freedom in South Africa with a walk on the beach front stopping for prayer, praise, declarations and an open air communion service on the sand. The walk was finished off with collecting litter off the beach.

People across Durban celebrated 25 years of democratic freedom in South Africa with a walk on the beach front stopping for prayer, praise, declarations and an open air communion service on the sand. The walk was finished off with collecting litter off the beach.

People across Durban celebrated 25 years of democratic freedom in South Africa with a walk on the beach front stopping for prayer, praise, declarations and an open air communion service on the sand. The walk was finished off with collecting litter off the beach.

People across Durban celebrated 25 years of democratic freedom in South Africa with a walk on the beach front stopping for prayer, praise, declarations and an open air communion service on the sand. The walk was finished off with collecting litter off the beach.

People across Durban celebrated 25 years of democratic freedom in South Africa with a walk on the beach front stopping for prayer, praise, declarations and an open air communion service on the sand. The walk was finished off with collecting litter off the beach.

People across Durban celebrated 25 years of democratic freedom in South Africa with a walk on the beach front stopping for prayer, praise, declarations and an open air communion service on the sand. The walk was finished off with collecting litter off the beach.

On 27 April 2019 People Across Durban Celebrated 25 Years of Democratic Freedom in South Africa with a prayer walk on the beach front stopping for praise, declarations and an open air communion service on the sand. The walk was finished off with collecting litter off the Durban beaches. – John Robinson