How Hector Dibakoane is reshaping Joburg’s Makers Valley into a creative powerhouse

“Makers Valley is a grassroots hub of creativity and social enterprise that goes across a physical geographic neighbourhood,” says Hector Dibakoane, CEO of the Makers Valley Partnership (MVP).

This “network of possibility” as he calls it, includes the feisty historic suburbs of Bertrams, Bezuidenhout Valley, Judith’s Paarl, Troyeville, Lorentzville and New Doornfontein, east of the Jozi CBD. “By rebranding and uniting these distinct suburbs under one collective identity, individual makers have greater visibility and collective bargaining power.”

The MVP began in 2018 and it’s a valley of real makers – independent artisans, carpenters, metalworkers, bakers, food gardeners, visual artists and fashion designers – who live and work in the area that sits in the valley and the lower slopes between the ridges of Kensington and Observatory, has about 50,000 residents, and is where the Jukskei River emerges from the ground at a place evocatively named the Daylight Point.

We meet up at Victoria Yards in Lorentzville, where many makers have their studios, shops and galleries.

Once a massive early 20th-century laundry, Vic Yards is now a thriving creative and artisanal hub, famous for its First Sundays market. It started in 2015 when developer Brian Green and partners came up with a vision for a sanctuary in the city where arts, artisanal skills and urban farming could coexist.

There’s a lovely energy here today as the neighbourhood is gearing up for the 702 Jozi My Jozi Walk the Talk on Sunday, 26 July.

About 20,000 walkers will leave Ellis Park on the 5km family walk that heads for Vic Yards, goes through it and out it, takes in some of the lovely murals and street art in Jozi, passes the Jukskei’s Daylight Point (look out for the mosaic mural on the bridge there by Spaza Art), then continues through Bertrams, past the Troyeville Hotel and ends up back at Ellis Park.

“The spotlight is on Makers Valley,” says Hector, “and the community is cheering us on.”

There are teams of crew from the Social Employment Fund cleaning the streets, people sweeping their yards, walls being primed for fresh new street art and murals. Urban management company Local Abode has been tackling the tough stuff including water leaks and pavement repairs.

Hector grew up in Bez Valley and initially became involved as a volunteer for MVP. He’s a former dancer, current entrepreneur and has long hosted poetry and art events. He also has a sustainable fashion and design shop at Vic Yards called Dese.

The MVP, he explains, began when Simon Mayson, a PhD researcher studying the area, began engaging with locals to explore sustainable economic solutions to transform this neglected, low-income area.

The MVP has their studio in Vic Yards, and this is the resource lab for people who need access to computers and the internet; start-ups and incubations.

The studio runs training programmes covering creative skills and practical business advice. And Makers Valley has become a creative economy of small businesses that do a range of things from thrifting and art, to food gardens and music.

There are artisans and artists, urban farmers, after-care programmes, safe study spaces, local tech start-ups, backyard coffee shops, home-run catering set-ups and more.

“The MVP basically focuses on empowering a high-unemployment community through artistic expression, skills sharing and small business incubation,” Hector says. “Rather than competing, local businesses here share resources, mentor new entrepreneurs and protect the local economy.” DM

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