Photography Alone Can Freeze A Moment In Time…
uShaka Beach, at 29,52.0135S, 31,2.8517E, the uShaka Marine World complex is a major tourist attraction in Durban with it’s beach front Water World fun park and aquarium, there are many restaurants and beach lifestyle shops in the adjoining shopping mall. Overlooking the public beach there is a pier with a view point at the end and Moyos a African styled cocktail lounge. The Durban beach front shows up a cross section of all the people in Durban at any time of the year, this diversity also attracts the vendors of plastic buckets and spades for a day at the sea.
End of North Pier, at 29,52.0028S, 3,3.438E, the entrance of the port of Durban is protected by two piers, at the end of North Pier there is a security gate preventing public access to the flashing green starboard beacon directing ships at the entrance to the Durban port. As members of the public walk to the end of the pier many stop and just touch the gate and others pose for selfies with family and friends. The flashing beacon at the end of the pier is guarded by port security guards as the beacon is of strategic importance to the port of Durban and South Africa as a whole.
The lilly pond at the Durban Botanic Gardens, from 29,50.8287S, 31,0.449E, the Durban Botanic Gardens is Africa’s oldest surviving botanical garden. The lilly pond is is a central feature of the gardens, the pond is set in an open lawn of grass surrounded by picnic spots and deep shaded areas. The gardens have a free entrance policy that insures that it is still truly a Durban public space while being surrounded off by high palisade fencing. The Durban Botanic Gardens are populated by both local and exotic plants and trees, just to the side of the lilly pond there is a small house that compliments the sun lit lilly pads of the pond with cool shade and a collection of orchids and koi fish from around the world.
Over looking the practice fields of the Moses Mabhida Stadium at 29,50.2622S, 31,1.632E there is a wide flat surrounding concrete access track used mainly by children gaining their bicycle confidence. The concrete track is a part of the greater People’s Park connected to the Moses Mabhida Stadium. The Moses Mabhida Stadium is also connected to a cycle lane system in and around the city of Durban. The city of Durban is suited to the bicyclist and is home to a number of bicycle events and clubs too.
The rocky pier of Blue Lagoon at 29,48.7655S, 31,2.4273E is a site of long rod surf fishermen, families out for a walk and small children on their first bicycles. Blue Lagoon has long been popular with some of Durban’s people whose long ago ancestors came to Africa as indentured labourers for the British colony of Natal and has a flavour of Mumbai. At the end of the wide pier fishermen spread out and along each side of the concourse sit the young couples in love in plain view of the approving family matrons and other aunties.
Mud prawns or crackers are collected for recreational fishermen on the open mud flats off Wilson’s Wharf in the Durban Harbour at 29,52.030S, 31,1.0162E, while most of the Durban port is fenced off by the national port authorities for security reasons there are a few spots in the harbour that public foot traffic can still access. Upogebia Africana or crackers are widely found in open estuaries along the southern African coastline and favoured by Durban surf fishermen as live bait. The attraction of the cracker as bait has created a cottage industry of people making a living collecting the live mud prawn as bait for local fishermen. At low tide whole families can be seen on these mud flats collecting the upogebia africana to be sold onto nearby fishermen as bait.
North Pier runs from the National Sea Rescue Institute base in the entrance to Durban’s harbour to the green flashing beacon at its tip. There is another security gate at 29,52.407S and 31,3.0812E that blocks entry from North Pier to the NSRI base and harbour proper. Durban is the site of a protracted battle between local recreational fishermen and the national port authorities over public access to fishing waters in and around the harbour area of the city. The port authorities of Durban claim international security norms that the port has to be in line with to operate, and the fishermen claim hold of their traditional access to these same waters for their continued fishing rights. This gate is just one of many that mark the limits of public access around the port area of the city.
The opening of the promenade from uShaka Beach to the mouth of the port has done much for the extension of public space in the city of Durban. All beach area in the Republic of South Africa is public land by law, and so anybody can walk and or swim on South African beaches as it were. The beach area of Point Beach was public but access was restricted in that it was only by a long walk from uShaka Beach that the general public could get to Point Beach. Private clubs were backed up to the beach area of Point Beach and only members of these clubs had easy access to the beach area in front of these clubs. The new Point Beach promenade has changed all of that. At 29,52.1375S and 31,3.0227E there is now a new amphitheatre where young couples sit in the late day light, what once was a private enclave is now a free to the public area. The members of water clubs of the old Point Beach now sip their drinks behind high security fencing overlooking the harbour entrance channel and the now public North Pier.
Francis Farewell Square is at 29,51.521S and 31,1.529E in the middle of the City of Durban. The square is right next to the city hall and it is the site of a early colonial settlement of what has become Durban. A modern day couple end their day on a bench together and a man looks over the statue of the first Prime Minister of Natal that now provides a lookout point for some of the city’s pigeons. Palm trees provide colonnades for the stone figures of old and a sense of serenity for the people of the now in the middle of the busyness of this African city.
Gugu Dlamini was killed after she went public about her HIV+ status on a local radio station. Gugu Dlamini Park is at 29,51.3087S and 31,1.5423E and is a roof garden over the covered parking area of the Workshop Shopping Center, the center piece of these gardens is a red ribbon and a mosaic covered dome. The mosaics spill out off the dome and spread out over the walkways connecting the shopping center to the half round shaded seating area surrounding the main mosaic feature. Gugu Dlamini and other HIV+ people will always be remembered through public areas like this in South Africa and around the world.
Over looking the Sivananda King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu Environmental Education Centre from 29,49.6215S and 31,0.6842E in a glade of the Mitchell Park in Morningside. The ‘Centre includes bronze busts of Nelson Mandela and King Goodwill Zwelithini, inter faith peace statements and concise histories of “Indian” and “Coloured” people of South Africa. On the weekends the monument is surrounded by many families sharing this space for their Sunday lunch picnics and ball games in the afternoon sun. In the distance the squawk of the exotic birds of the small zoo connected to the park and burps of the boy racer cars outside the nearby Florida Road restaurants and bars interlude on the mid afternoon calm of this glade.
The North Beach Skatepark at 29,50.7347S and 31,2.1872E is a part of the Durban skateboard, push scooter and BMX bicycle riders world. These riders are the whippets of the urban pavement, hated by some in the city and looked up to by others. These riders view the city’s concrete and steel as just surfaces to jump, glide and skid over. This Durban sub culture perfect their street credentials on a painted concrete backdrop of some of Durban’s street artists doing. The skatepark is situated between the Bay of Plenty beachfront and the trees of a Durban sunken gardens. The whole area is looked over by the sky reflecting windows of hotels and beach front apartments. The Durban skatepark is often used by film and video producers for location shoots as South Africa is US Dollar friendly and the skatepark can double for locations set on the American mainland and elsewhere.
I once asked an Italian family on holiday in Durban why they came to here when they could literally go any where in the world. The father of the family told me this area was just like Thailand or Bali to him. Thailand has the same vibe, with the city right on the beachfront and all the hotels, shops and street life. The Italian family man then said “At home in Italy it is winter now, Durban is always warm”. The cold drink vendors of the junction of OR Tambo Parade and Dr Pixley Kaseme Street at 29,51.3498S and 31,2.3682E service the local Nigerian and Congolese community and world wise tourists from Europe with cold drinks and street snacks from their beach front mobile carts.
The crowds now have gone. After the human crush of Christmas and the new year period the public pools at 29,51.204S and 31,2.35E return to three young women on an evening walk the expanse of cool blue of these shallow paddling pools. The Durban beachfront is at the center of the second most populated area in South Africa and over the new year season if you have personal space issues these pools are not for you. Open paving around and in these pools is choked out of existence by humankind. Not so this late summer evening, new years eve is now weeks into the past and the crowds all home in their private spaces. Leaving the way clear for me and the three women to make what we can of this late light over the public pools on the Durban beachfront.
Cuttings Beach is at 29,58.1213S and 30,88.7092E and is accessed via Tanjor Drive in Merewent south Durban. Cuttings Beach is not a pretty place but it is an outlet for many in the local community. Cuttings Beach has a health warning banning swimming in the sea. There is a canal often flowing plastic bottles into the sea and an outlet from local factories that lets factory effluent onto the sand here. But still the people have claimed this space for themselves. Here at Cuttings’ the people pray, here at Cuttings’ the people use the slime in the canal as bait for the local mullet fish and any other in these less then perfect waters. Here at Cuttings’ other people just come for quiet time with another. The city council is now busy working on the waste water outlet, they have been on the job for a long time now; and some locals don’t see the end of the project any time soon either.
Cuttings Beach is at 29,58.1213S and 30,88.7092E and is accessed via Tanjor Drive in Merewent south Durban. Cuttings Beach is not a pretty place but it is an outlet for many in the local community. Cuttings Beach has a health warning banning swimming in the sea. There is a canal often flowing plastic bottles into the sea and an outlet from local factories that lets factory effluent onto the sand here. But still the people have claimed this space for themselves. Here at Cuttings’ the people pray, here at Cuttings’ the people use the slime in the canal as bait for the local mullet fish and any other in these less then perfect waters. Here at Cuttings’ other people just come for quiet time with another. The city council is now busy working on the waste water outlet, they have been on the job for a long time now; and some locals don’t see the end of the project any time soon either.
An event organiser watches over chairs, stands and ceremonial arch on a North Beach pier at 29,50.8548S and 31,2.3495E after a Saturday morning wedding ceremony held in this Durban public space. A lawful wedding ceremony in South Africa has to be under a structure and the door has to be open, in South Africa a wedding is a public ceremony. The pier makes use of the wonderful views and the tassels now left blowing in the wind made for a more romantic feel to this utilitarian pier turned wedding chapel.
Pigeons fly over the broad stairs and water feature linking the Moses Mabhida Stadium and People’s Park at 29,49.8802S and 31,1.7618E, apart from a few children on their bicycles and scooters all the family groups are away from the late summer midday sun in the shade of the trees lining the open paved areas of this much loved Durban public space. The stadium was opened just before the FIFA World Cup in 2010 in South Africa. The stadium is now a well used public space and is used for many sports events including the end point of the Comrades Marathon down run from Pietermaritzburg and many bicycle events in and around the City of Durban.
A ring of white painted trees and stones near 29,55.392S and 30,57.8962E mark out the edges of a Shembe temple in a Montclair park. The Shembe belief system is an African religion melding with some aspects of Christian beliefs. A Shembe temple is always in the shade of trees, marked out with white painted stones and trees and located near a road or public pathway so other people can also be attracted to the worshipping of the people in white. Shembe people come to temple dressed in traditional Zulu clothes with white over coats for the men and white sheeting for the women. No shoes are worn inside the ring of white stones of the temple and the men can also be seen by their beards and the women’s lack of makeup.
A simple white cross on the center island of ZK Matthews Road at 29,51.8888S and 30,59.5322E is the center piece of a shrine to someone killed in a road accident. Road deaths are common in South Africa and this simple shrine to Clinton is in memory of yet another life cut short on the roads of this country. These shrines are set up at the site of the road death by the family and friends of the departed and give some lasting remembrance to what sometimes is a sudden end of a life cut short before it’s full allowed time.
The intersection of Daventry Place and Cato road is at 29,51.645S and 30,59.3947E. Here three red chairs stand out on a shaded platform surrounded by water wise plants. The grass around the platform is neatly cut and now is an extension of the garden of some local residents who took it on themselves to take responsibility for more then the private space of their own property in the area. The platform and chairs are now an extension of a local coffee shop, it adds an outdoor area to the indoor space offered in the Coffee Tree coffee shop.
A flood light pylon at 29,50.7838S and 31,2.2078E. Durban has eight kilometers of public walk way on it’s beach front, the beach front promenade is the city’s most inclusive space. On the promenade you will meet a cross section of who is in Durban on the day. Here the locks on the light pylon reflect the colour of a runner’s vest past the life guard outpost on Bay of Plenty beach.
Near 29,50.8123S and 31,2.2053E there is a city open air gym, this gym is one of many city open air gyms in Durban, these gyms are free to use and they are provided by the metro council, they are basic and work with the body weight of the user. The Durban beach front while during the day is the domain of the casual visitor, in the evenings it is the domain of fitness groups and runners who use the area for running, cycling, fitness training and beach soccer.
A photographer takes pictures of a kingfisher, an Egyptian goose stands and a couple sits in the shade of the trees at 29,50.8808S and 31,0.407E in the Durban Botanic Gardens. The pond side cooler shade of late summer heat and humidity causes these gardens to be a place of choice for many warm blooded creatures of the Durban area.
The Ruth First Highway crosses over a public underpass at 29,48.7017S and 31,2.2682E. In the deep shade of the underpass local recreational fishermen and their families spend hot weekend days picnicking and catching fish in the tidal water of the lagoon. The underpass connects a stony pier at one end of Durban’s eight kilometer promenade and a grassed public park on the water front of the Umgeni River. The deep shadow of the overhead bridge straddles the inter tidal area of the Umgeni River and is a breeding zone for much local sea life such as Upogebia Africana or mud prawns; and so many fish are attracted to this food source and so too are the local fishermen and their families.
Eight kilometers from the stony pier of Blue Lagoon is Point Beach at 29,52.0907S and 31,3.0048E. Low waves just beyond the last beach front swimming area. The water condition of Point Beach is generally calm due to the long North Pier protecting the adjacent entrance to Durban’s port. Adding to the calm sea conditions of Point Beach is the shallow natural reef just off the shore line. People come here to walk in the low waves, other people launch ski boats here and others too dive under the surface to hunt fish with spearguns. Swimming is not encouraged here due to the ongoing launch of boats, line fishing and spearfishing in the area.
photos and words John Robinson
Some Public Spaces in the City of Durban
Every place that is inhabited by the human race has some private space and space that is public. Private space is that which is owned by the individual, like the home, the school, the workplace. Or where the ‘Right of Admittance’ sign is hung. Public space is all else, the streets, the squares, the parks, the open market places and the beaches. Public space is that area where the human collective can freely come and go. It is in the public space too that that collective human spirit is most clearly seen.
The City of Durban is on the east coast of South Africa, Durban has many public spaces, these are just some of them.
Durban is the second largest populated area in South Africa after Johannesburg. The city has the second-largest subcontinental population in the world after India and besides isiZulu and English, you can hear Urdu, French, Kiswahili, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Mandarin, Dutch and German on Durban streets. The flavour of Durban is changing too, the city is becoming the home of a central and west African community as the conflict in the Great Lakes region and the economic possibilities in South Africa make Durban a viable option for these people. Also, Durban is a cost-effective tourism choice for many other people. The city is warm all year round and a bit laid back too. In the central business area of the city bowl, you could also be anywhere in Africa or Pakistan or India. On the beachfront, you could be in Rio de Janeiro.
These pictures have come out of connecting with some Durban urban spaces as a commuter bicyclist. These areas are ones that I as a cyclist have ridden through and stopped, looked around and looked again. Some are endpoints in travels and some are waypoints, others are surprises that only after some thought that their significance was realised. But they all are spaces that people of Durban have claimed for their use.
These pictures have all been taken on an iPhone 6 mobile phone camera, working this way a photographer can hide in plain sight. There are so many people in these places taking selfies that any photographer fades into the collective conscious of these places as just another selfie taker…
If you like what you have seen and read here, you can always buy me a $3.00 coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnRobinson or PayPal.Me/jrphotographer
South Beach, exhibited at ART SPACE, Durban, South Africa. Photos and words John Robinson
South Beach is a part of the City of Durban’s longest uninterrupted stretch of beach sand. The City of Durban is on the eastern seaboard of South Africa and the people here are washed with the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. To the north of this stretch of sand are beaches with cafe society hangouts. To the south, there is a pier with the upmarket Moyo’s Restaurant at its end and the uShaka Marine World complex and the private surf and sea clubs of the Vetches Beach area. Between these northern and southern affluent areas lies this long uninterrupted and relatively undeveloped stretch of beach sand. It’s along this beach that some of the ‘scatterlings’ of Africa come to be alone, sleep, pray, walk, swim, surf, work, commune with another, or just the sea sand and water.
On this uninterrupted length of the beach, I am alone with my thoughts, with just a few seagulls for company. It takes me over an hour to walk its length and when I walk along the sands, these are some of the many people who have also taken some time out of their day for the same.
I asked the people that I met only three questions; Where are you from. What do you do here and What do you like about this beach.
If you like what you have seen and read here you can always buy me a $3.00 coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnRobinson or PayPal.Me/jrphotographer
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe, entered for The Ernest Cole Photographic Award. Photos and words John Robinson
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the centre of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of KwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; its bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD.
Since the elections in 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa’, the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a spot in the urban areas.
The sight of these self-built homes on open tracts of South African land is not going to go away anytime soon…
If you like what you have seen and read here, you can always buy me a $3.00 coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnRobinson or PayPal.Me/jrphotographer
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
THE BREAST MILK BANK. The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their own milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL DECEMBER 2011 DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA PHOTO/JOHN ROBINSON
The Breast Milk Bank. Photos John Robinson
The WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS guidelines recommend that all HIV positive mothers feed their babies exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. The Nursery Unit at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban South Africa has set up an in-unit breast milk bank managed by a trained health care worker that trains mothers to flash heat their milk when needed and also bank the human milk for use where another baby in the unit does not have access to this life-giving milk. This simple method makes safe the mother’s milk by destroying all virus and microbes present but preserving the nutritional value of natural mother’s milk. KING EDWARD VIII HOSPITAL, DECEMBER 2011, DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA.
If you like what you have seen and read here, you can always buy me a $3.00 coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnRobinson or PayPal.Me/jrphotographer
Through a joint project of THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES and THE SOUTH AFRICAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH or HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL, THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES (flying doctor service)ÊfliesÊorthopaedicÊtechnicians to theÊoutlyingÊand remote SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT HEALTH SERVICES orthopaedic/physiotherapy clinics at government hospitals in the far northern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. This accessÊto expert orthopaedic care for the out patients at the MANGUZI, MOSFOLD and BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS hasÊmeantÊaccess to the special care needed by those who from birth, illness and or physical trauma are left with a very real need for orthopaedic care and orÊprosthetic assistance. The hills, fields andÊplainsÊof far northern KwaZulu-Natal region are isolated, and the infrastructure is not good. The work carried out in these clinics provides the walkers, irons and prosthetics that makes a changeÊto those who with out this service wouldÊliterallyÊbe left to stumble on with their lives in a place that is less thenÊconduciveÊtoÊthoseÊwith less then a perfect body. The clinics that this co-operation facilitates has helped children to walk upright, corrected small defects for others and allowed aÊsubsistenceÊfarmer the ability to manage the planting of her personal field of beans and the restored the pride to another to father and provide for his family once again.Ê IMAGES PRODUCED IN THE MANGUZI, MOSFOLD AND BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS ÊAND SURROUNDS OF THE NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA. FEBRUARY/APRIL 2009. PHOTOS JOHN ROBINSONÊ
Through a joint project of THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES and THE SOUTH AFRICAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH or HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL, THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES (flying doctor service)ÊfliesÊorthopaedicÊtechnicians to theÊoutlyingÊand remote SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT HEALTH SERVICES orthopaedic/physiotherapy clinics at government hospitals in the far northern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. This accessÊto expert orthopaedic care for the out patients at the MANGUZI, MOSFOLD and BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS hasÊmeantÊaccess to the special care needed by those who from birth, illness and or physical trauma are left with a very real need for orthopaedic care and orÊprosthetic assistance. The hills, fields andÊplainsÊof far northern KwaZulu-Natal region are isolated, and the infrastructure is not good. The work carried out in these clinics provides the walkers, irons and prosthetics that makes a changeÊto those who with out this service wouldÊliterallyÊbe left to stumble on with their lives in a place that is less thenÊconduciveÊtoÊthoseÊwith less then a perfect body. The clinics that this co-operation facilitates has helped children to walk upright, corrected small defects for others and allowed aÊsubsistenceÊfarmer the ability to manage the planting of her personal field of beans and the restored the pride to another to father and provide for his family once again.Ê IMAGES PRODUCED IN THE MANGUZI, MOSFOLD AND BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS ÊAND SURROUNDS OF THE NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA. FEBRUARY/APRIL 2009. PHOTOS JOHN ROBINSONÊ
Through a joint project of THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES and THE SOUTH AFRICAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH or HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL, THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES (flying doctor service)ÊfliesÊorthopaedicÊtechnicians to theÊoutlyingÊand remote SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT HEALTH SERVICES orthopaedic/physiotherapy clinics at government hospitals in the far northern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. This accessÊto expert orthopaedic care for the out patients at the MANGUZI, MOSFOLD and BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS hasÊmeantÊaccess to the special care needed by those who from birth, illness and or physical trauma are left with a very real need for orthopaedic care and orÊprosthetic assistance. The hills, fields andÊplainsÊof far northern KwaZulu-Natal region are isolated, and the infrastructure is not good. The work carried out in these clinics provides the walkers, irons and prosthetics that makes a changeÊto those who with out this service wouldÊliterallyÊbe left to stumble on with their lives in a place that is less thenÊconduciveÊtoÊthoseÊwith less then a perfect body. The clinics that this co-operation facilitates has helped children to walk upright, corrected small defects for others and allowed aÊsubsistenceÊfarmer the ability to manage the planting of her personal field of beans and the restored the pride to another to father and provide for his family once again.Ê IMAGES PRODUCED IN THE MANGUZI, MOSFOLD AND BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS ÊAND SURROUNDS OF THE NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA. FEBRUARY/APRIL 2009. PHOTOS JOHN ROBINSONÊ
Through a joint project of THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES and THE SOUTH AFRICAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH or HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL, THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES (flying doctor service)ÊfliesÊorthopaedicÊtechnicians to theÊoutlyingÊand remote SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT HEALTH SERVICES orthopaedic/physiotherapy clinics at government hospitals in the far northern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. This accessÊto expert orthopaedic care for the out patients at the MANGUZI, MOSFOLD and BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS hasÊmeantÊaccess to the special care needed by those who from birth, illness and or physical trauma are left with a very real need for orthopaedic care and orÊprosthetic assistance. The hills, fields andÊplainsÊof far northern KwaZulu-Natal region are isolated, and the infrastructure is not good. The work carried out in these clinics provides the walkers, irons and prosthetics that makes a changeÊto those who with out this service wouldÊliterallyÊbe left to stumble on with their lives in a place that is less thenÊconduciveÊtoÊthoseÊwith less then a perfect body. The clinics that this co-operation facilitates has helped children to walk upright, corrected small defects for others and allowed aÊsubsistenceÊfarmer the ability to manage the planting of her personal field of beans and the restored the pride to another to father and provide for his family once again.Ê IMAGES PRODUCED IN THE MANGUZI, MOSFOLD AND BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS ÊAND SURROUNDS OF THE NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA. FEBRUARY/APRIL 2009. PHOTOS JOHN ROBINSONÊ
Through a joint project of THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES and THE SOUTH AFRICAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH or HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL, THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES (flying doctor service)ÊfliesÊorthopaedicÊtechnicians to theÊoutlyingÊand remote SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT HEALTH SERVICES orthopaedic/physiotherapy clinics at government hospitals in the far northern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. This accessÊto expert orthopaedic care for the out patients at the MANGUZI, MOSFOLD and BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS hasÊmeantÊaccess to the special care needed by those who from birth, illness and or physical trauma are left with a very real need for orthopaedic care and orÊprosthetic assistance. The hills, fields andÊplainsÊof far northern KwaZulu-Natal region are isolated, and the infrastructure is not good. The work carried out in these clinics provides the walkers, irons and prosthetics that makes a changeÊto those who with out this service wouldÊliterallyÊbe left to stumble on with their lives in a place that is less thenÊconduciveÊtoÊthoseÊwith less then a perfect body. The clinics that this co-operation facilitates has helped children to walk upright, corrected small defects for others and allowed aÊsubsistenceÊfarmer the ability to manage the planting of her personal field of beans and the restored the pride to another to father and provide for his family once again.Ê IMAGES PRODUCED IN THE MANGUZI, MOSFOLD AND BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS ÊAND SURROUNDS OF THE NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA. FEBRUARY/APRIL 2009. PHOTOS JOHN ROBINSONÊ
Through a joint project of THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES and THE SOUTH AFRICAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH or HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL, THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES (flying doctor service)ÊfliesÊorthopaedicÊtechnicians to theÊoutlyingÊand remote SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT HEALTH SERVICES orthopaedic/physiotherapy clinics at government hospitals in the far northern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. This accessÊto expert orthopaedic care for the out patients at the MANGUZI, MOSFOLD and BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS hasÊmeantÊaccess to the special care needed by those who from birth, illness and or physical trauma are left with a very real need for orthopaedic care and orÊprosthetic assistance. The hills, fields andÊplainsÊof far northern KwaZulu-Natal region are isolated, and the infrastructure is not good. The work carried out in these clinics provides the walkers, irons and prosthetics that makes a changeÊto those who with out this service wouldÊliterallyÊbe left to stumble on with their lives in a place that is less thenÊconduciveÊtoÊthoseÊwith less then a perfect body. The clinics that this co-operation facilitates has helped children to walk upright, corrected small defects for others and allowed aÊsubsistenceÊfarmer the ability to manage the planting of her personal field of beans and the restored the pride to another to father and provide for his family once again.Ê IMAGES PRODUCED IN THE MANGUZI, MOSFOLD AND BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS ÊAND SURROUNDS OF THE NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA. FEBRUARY/APRIL 2009. PHOTOS JOHN ROBINSONÊ
Through a joint project of THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES and THE SOUTH AFRICAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH or HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL, THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES (flying doctor service)ÊfliesÊorthopaedicÊtechnicians to theÊoutlyingÊand remote SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT HEALTH SERVICES orthopaedic/physiotherapy clinics at government hospitals in the far northern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. This accessÊto expert orthopaedic care for the out patients at the MANGUZI, MOSFOLD and BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS hasÊmeantÊaccess to the special care needed by those who from birth, illness and or physical trauma are left with a very real need for orthopaedic care and orÊprosthetic assistance. The hills, fields andÊplainsÊof far northern KwaZulu-Natal region are isolated, and the infrastructure is not good. The work carried out in these clinics provides the walkers, irons and prosthetics that makes a changeÊto those who with out this service wouldÊliterallyÊbe left to stumble on with their lives in a place that is less thenÊconduciveÊtoÊthoseÊwith less then a perfect body. The clinics that this co-operation facilitates has helped children to walk upright, corrected small defects for others and allowed aÊsubsistenceÊfarmer the ability to manage the planting of her personal field of beans and the restored the pride to another to father and provide for his family once again.Ê IMAGES PRODUCED IN THE MANGUZI, MOSFOLD AND BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS ÊAND SURROUNDS OF THE NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA. FEBRUARY/APRIL 2009. PHOTOS JOHN ROBINSONÊ
Through a joint project of THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES and THE SOUTH AFRICAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH or HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL, THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES (flying doctor service)ÊfliesÊorthopaedicÊtechnicians to theÊoutlyingÊand remote SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT HEALTH SERVICES orthopaedic/physiotherapy clinics at government hospitals in the far northern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. This accessÊto expert orthopaedic care for the out patients at the MANGUZI, MOSFOLD and BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS hasÊmeantÊaccess to the special care needed by those who from birth, illness and or physical trauma are left with a very real need for orthopaedic care and orÊprosthetic assistance. The hills, fields andÊplainsÊof far northern KwaZulu-Natal region are isolated, and the infrastructure is not good. The work carried out in these clinics provides the walkers, irons and prosthetics that makes a changeÊto those who with out this service wouldÊliterallyÊbe left to stumble on with their lives in a place that is less thenÊconduciveÊtoÊthoseÊwith less then a perfect body. The clinics that this co-operation facilitates has helped children to walk upright, corrected small defects for others and allowed aÊsubsistenceÊfarmer the ability to manage the planting of her personal field of beans and the restored the pride to another to father and provide for his family once again.Ê IMAGES PRODUCED IN THE MANGUZI, MOSFOLD AND BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS ÊAND SURROUNDS OF THE NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA. FEBRUARY/APRIL 2009. PHOTOS JOHN ROBINSONÊ
Through a joint project of THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES and THE SOUTH AFRICAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH or HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL, THE SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS AIR MERCY SERVICES (flying doctor service)ÊfliesÊorthopaedicÊtechnicians to theÊoutlyingÊand remote SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT HEALTH SERVICES orthopaedic/physiotherapy clinics at government hospitals in the far northern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. This accessÊto expert orthopaedic care for the out patients at the MANGUZI, MOSFOLD and BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS hasÊmeantÊaccess to the special care needed by those who from birth, illness and or physical trauma are left with a very real need for orthopaedic care and orÊprosthetic assistance. The hills, fields andÊplainsÊof far northern KwaZulu-Natal region are isolated, and the infrastructure is not good. The work carried out in these clinics provides the walkers, irons and prosthetics that makes a changeÊto those who with out this service wouldÊliterallyÊbe left to stumble on with their lives in a place that is less thenÊconduciveÊtoÊthoseÊwith less then a perfect body. The clinics that this co-operation facilitates has helped children to walk upright, corrected small defects for others and allowed aÊsubsistenceÊfarmer the ability to manage the planting of her personal field of beans and the restored the pride to another to father and provide for his family once again.Ê IMAGES PRODUCED IN THE MANGUZI, MOSFOLD AND BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS ÊAND SURROUNDS OF THE NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA. FEBRUARY/APRIL 2009. PHOTOS JOHN ROBINSONÊ
Painful Feet. Published by BBC. Photos and words John Robinson
The access to expert orthopaedic care for the outpatients at the MANGUZI, MOSFOLD and BETHESDA GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS has meant access to the special care needed by those who from birth, illness and or physical trauma are left with a very real need for orthopaedic care and or prosthetic assistance. The hills, fields and plains of the far northern KwaZulu-natal region are isolated, and the infrastructure is not good. The work carried out in these clinics provides the walkers, irons and prosthetics that make a change to those who without this service would be left to stumble on with their lives in a place that is less than conducive to those with less than a perfect body. The clinics that this co-operation facilitates has helped children to walk upright, corrected small defects for others and allowed a subsistence farmer the ability to manage the planting of her field of beans and the restored the pride to another to father and provide for his family once again.
Images shot in Public Hospitals in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, February 2009, South Africa.
If you like what you have seen and read here, you can always buy me a $3.00 coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnRobinson or PayPal.Me/jrphotographer
A lone grave marker in the grass strewn field at Mountain Rise Grave Yard.
A worker pauses from clearing graves for a smoke.
A daughter looking for her mother’s grave among the wooden crosses marking other resting places of the dead.
A young child holds flowers for the dead.
Mourners at a funeral.
Pastors blessing the dead, while a grave digger looks on.
Tombstones and simple wooden crosses in the mountain rise grave yard.
A lone bird flies over the still grave yard.
A council worker cutting overgrown grass among graves with his ‘bread cutter’
Ice cream vendor looking for customers among the graves on a busy Saturday afternoon.
Life Among The Dead. Published by BBC. Photos and words John Robinson
The flowered field has called once again, “come and return to the slopes of the dead once again.” Come and see if things are as they were on that day you last laid down the dead.
Clouds skid low over this place, brooding over the fields of the dead. Mountain Rise Cemetery, in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa is a place where simple wood crosses stand in place of their final claims.
‘Bread cutters’ are the rugged brush cutters operated by men and woman dressed in black. fitted with a mask and gloves they scythe their way through the grass that covers the grave markers and wooden crosses.
The pastors and ladies of the church sway in tune with the songs of departing. Grandmothers and small children stand and watch the casket of one who should have been shouldering the dead. Instead, he is lowered into his own fresh grave. Between these young and old, some sell ice cream. Others parade in the latest fashions and watch the ongoing ceremony of the dead.
Rocks and clumps of grass are placed on the filled grave. A number is placed at the foot of the grave, the cross carries the name, age and date of the one who has just joined the many in this place.
A young woman leads her grandmother across the field she looks for the place that her mother lies, picking weeds away from the soil that covers the spot she makes thing as best as she can and waits for the old woman to finish her prayers. The old woman will be walked away and the cutters will be kings and queens of this place once again.
Clouds form a backdrop against which birds rise out of the long grass, they lift into the sky with songs of life, they are not of this dead, yet they are the dead’s only hope of retaining a simple celebration of life in this place.
(Author’s note. Though Pietermaritzburg is recognised as an epicentre of global HIV infection, and though there are now over 30 undertakers operating in the city, due to a lack of concrete medical records is unlikely that anybody will ever really know who was, in the end, a victim of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.)
If you like what you have seen and read here, you can always buy me a $3.00 coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnRobinson or PayPal.Me/jrphotographer
At the time when my mothers independence failed her, my daughter Erin’s (1) was just developing. These seven images are aspects of an interaction between an old lady nearing the end of her life and a little girl who is only starting out on her’s. We are all somewhere between these two points. These images were taken during family visits to the frail care centre where my mother spent the last few months of her life on this earth. ©John Robinson/South Photographs africa afrika afrique aged ageing disabled elderly frail
At the time when my mothers independence failed her, my daughter Erin’s (1) was just developing. These seven images are aspects of an interaction between an old lady nearing the end of her life and a little girl who is only starting out on her’s. We are all somewhere between these two points. These images were taken during family visits to the frail care centre where my mother spent the last few months of her life on this earth. ©John Robinson/South Photographs africa afrika afrique aged ageing disabled elderly frail
At the time when my mothers independence failed her, my daughter Erin’s (1) was just developing. These seven images are aspects of an interaction between an old lady nearing the end of her life and a little girl who is only starting out on her’s. We are all somewhere between these two points. These images were taken during family visits to the frail care centre where my mother spent the last few months of her life on this earth. ©John Robinson/South Photographs africa afrika afrique aged ageing disabled elderly frail
At the time when my mothers independence failed her, my daughter Erin’s (1) was just developing. These seven images are aspects of an interaction between an old lady nearing the end of her life and a little girl who is only starting out on her’s. We are all somewhere between these two points. These images were taken during family visits to the frail care centre where my mother spent the last few months of her life on this earth. ©John Robinson/South Photographs africa afrika afrique aged ageing disabled elderly frail
At the time when my mothers independence failed her, my daughter Erin’s (1) was just developing. These seven images are aspects of an interaction between an old lady nearing the end of her life and a little girl who is only starting out on her’s. We are all somewhere between these two points. These images were taken during family visits to the frail care centre where my mother spent the last few months of her life on this earth. ©John Robinson/South Photographs africa afrika afrique aged ageing disabled elderly frail
At the time when my mothers independence failed her, my daughter Erin’s (1) was just developing. These seven images are aspects of an interaction between an old lady nearing the end of her life and a little girl who is only starting out on her’s. We are all somewhere between these two points. These images were taken during family visits to the frail care centre where my mother spent the last few months of her life on this earth. ©John Robinson/South Photographs africa afrika afrique aged ageing disabled elderly frail
At the time when my mothers independence failed her, my daughter Erin’s (1) was just developing. These seven images are aspects of an interaction between an old lady nearing the end of her life and a little girl who is only starting out on her’s. We are all somewhere between these two points. These images were taken during family visits to the frail care centre where my mother spent the last few months of her life on this earth. ©John Robinson/South Photographs africa afrika afrique aged ageing disabled elderly frail
Visiting Mom. Published by Sunday Independent. Photos John Robinson
At the time when my mother’s independence failed her, my daughter Erin (1) was just developing hers. These seven images are aspects of an interaction between an old lady at the end of her life and a little girl who is only starting.
We are all somewhere between these two points. These images were taken during my family visits to the frail care centre where my mother spent the last few months of her life on this earth.
If you like what you have seen and read here, you can always buy me a $3.00 coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnRobinson or PayPal.Me/jrphotographer
Louis – My Area. Exhibited at The Johannesburg Biennial. Photos John Robinson
Louis is 9 years old. He lives with his mother and sister in Johannesburg, South Africa. Louis has spinal muscular dystrophy.
If you like what you have seen and read here, you can always buy me a $3.00 coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnRobinson or PayPal.Me/jrphotographer
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