Staying in Joburg’s silos of safety

The suburb of New Doornfontein is probably most famous for being home to the Greater Ellis Park Precinct (or Emirates Airline Park). Outside the legendary sports complex, however, the ’hood is a mix of light industrial tenants and high-­density living, characterised by a combination of opportunistic crime, deteriorating infrastructure and urban decay.

There are many “bad buildings”, as hijacked and derelict buildings are known locally, and residents, a great proportion of them students, struggle with unreliable water services and erratic electricity.

And like many inner-city suburbs, potholes, blocked storm water drains and illegal dumping are problems.

Yet within this urban disarray is a pleasant, safe and well-run precinct known as Davies Street. From the entrance, several blocks have been cobbled and pedestrianised. There are trees and flower beds, benches encouraging people to sit and pause, there is free WiFi and giant screens are soon to be installed, which will broadcast sports and entertainment.

An estimated 4,000 people live in the vicinity of Davies Street. Quemic provides on-the-ground security with Vumacam CCTV and surveillance.

The development of Davies Street was driven by the Africa Housing Company (AFHCO), which was founded in 1996 and is one of the developers and investors in affordable housing and commercial property in the Johannesburg inner city. AFHCO has contributed to the development of the End Street Precinct in three main ways, says Tiiso Masipa, its general operations manager.

“First, AFHCO did some large-scale building conversions after acquiring underdeveloped and derelict buildings along and around Davies Street into high-quality affordable rental housing. At a later stage, AFHCO built modern 15-storey high-rise student accommodation called Living@Mpumelelo along Davies Street, which houses over 900 students.

“Second,” says Masipa, “AFHCO entered into an agreement for the management, upkeep and maintenance of the nearby End Street South Park, which used to be derelict and dangerous. The park underwent upgrades worth about R10-million in partnership with the Johannesburg Development Agency around 2010 and now functions as a green space for locals and features a children’s playground and soccer fields.

“Third, Davies Street was pedestrianised, which cost AFHCO about R27-million. It transformed the road into a people-friendly urban thoroughfare with new landscaping, paving, seating, dustbins, enhanced street lighting, CCTV and free Wifi,” says Masipa.

The 120 End Street building’s residential apartments for rental are integrated into the End Street Mall. The mall has Shoprite and Movers Gym as anchor tenants, ATMs, food shops and other retailers.

Nearby, the Greater Ellis Park Precinct was also significantly upgraded in 2024 by Jozi My Jozi and partners to prepare for a high-profile rugby game between the Springboks and the All Blacks.

Working with the City of Johannesburg and private partners, Jozi My Jozi coordinated the installation of more than 380 solar lights around the precinct, managed the repair of potholes, fixed broken pavements and painted new road markings on the streets leading to the stadium. It also undertook beautification projects such as creating street art and murals. Jozi My Jozi also partnered with Prasa to reopen the Ellis Park train station for matches.

Yet a few blocks away from Ellis Park, the streets are sketchy. It’s not generally considered safe to walk at night from Ellis Park to Davies Street, for example, nor from the University of Johannesburg’s nearby Doornfontein campus.

So how does one extend safe precincts instead of creating silos?

One strategy has been the creation of the Greater Maboneng Improvement District, in which businesses and property owners like AFHCO fund complimentary services that the city or local authority ought to provide – such as security, street cleaning and public maintenance.

But without a functioning municipality and essential services supply, there is only so much that can be done. DM

Bridget Hilton-Barber is a freelance writer who writes for Jozi My Jozi.

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.