descriptive essay about johannesburg

The essay will specifically discuss how characterisation and narration contribute to other small themes like crime, Aids, xenophobia and suicide that make up to the main theme of post-apartheid issues that the new and democratic South Africa is currently facing and it will also explain what is meant by the term microcosm.

Since 1896. Writing the City into Being: Essays on Johannesburg 1998-2008 by Lindsay Bremner. Snapshots of the new Johannesburg where the intermingling of fantasy and consumption cauterises reality. Bremner speaks of a way of being in the world that is nomadic.

The capital of Gauteng province and one of the country’s largest cities, it bestrides a highland region called the Witwatersrand. It was founded in 1886 after the discovery of gold nearby and was occupied by the British during the South African War in 1900.

In this essay, I examine “City Johannesburg”, a 1972 poem by a South African poet, Mongane Wally Serote, that speaks about and describes the city of Johannesburg and the ugliness of it.

Johannesburg was the quintessential apartheid city. For half a century, a national policy of ‘influx control’ relocated millions of South Africans to various rural Bantustans on the basis of their skin colour.

City Johannesburg is about a man who goes to Johannesburg and leaves behind his loved ones during the apartheid era. He shares his experiences while in Johannesburg and how black people were treated. In this poem Johannesburg is seen as an unsafe space.

“City Johannesburg” is about the relationship between the speaker, an African working in the city in the apartheid era, and the city, Johannesburg. He is at the mercy of the city, which is shown to be vast and powerful, a place of insecurity and sorrow for the speaker.

It made me realise how privileged I am to be part of the Rainbow Nation. Of course there is a lot wrong with South Africa. The economic inequality makes me want to cry, as do the unacceptably high rates of crime and corruption. But then I look at where we were and how far we’ve come.

Collection of scholarly and creative essays on Johannesburg that focus on the city's modern and cosmopolitan status within Africa and the world.

Description: The paper outlines the history of Johannesburg, also known as Jozi, and describes the districts of Sandton and Soweto. The paper then focuses on cultural places of interest, fun activities, anthropological interests, shopping experiences and football stadiums.