June 12, 2002
By Zolile Mtshelwane
A YOUNG man at the back of the half-empty auditorium burst forth with a stanza of an isiZulu song before being joined in a chorus by nine other youths scattered around the seats. They ascended the stage of the Hillbrow Theatre singing their lungs out to the accompaniment of pounding drums.
This was the start of a meeting of the Hillbrow/Berea Regeneration Initiative (HBRI), aimed at reversing the decay in Johannesburg's crime-ridden flatland. Some 60 people, many of them youths, braved the evening chill to attend the HBRI's report back meeting on progress in addressing the problems facing their areas.
The 10-member group, calling themselves Iso Lomphakathi (Eye of the Community), have staged about 27 performances on the streets of Hillbrow and Berea as part of the Initiative to raise awareness and generate debate.
The problems that Hillbrow and Berea residents face, which the performers enact on stage, include:
- Increasing numbers of glue-sniffing street kids;
- Overcrowding in flats and the exploitation of sub-tenants by slumlords;
- Proliferation of prostitutes and the prevalence of HIV/AIDSs;
- Street corners and buildings populated by drug dealers;
- High levels of crime, including muggings, robbery and murder;
- Decaying parks that have been taken over by the homeless and the criminals.
The HBRI, according to Vernon Openshaw, one of the residents behind the initiative, has used the street performances by Iso Lomphakathi as one of the tools to generate debate among the Hillbrow and Berea residents. "The performers, during the acts, pause and engage with the audiences, asking them to comment on the issues being raised in the performances," said Openshaw.
He added that other activities included canvassing the views of the residents about their areas and the conditions in which they live, through workshops, public meetings and surveys.
Openshaw said the HBRI process was initiated 14 months ago by the Imbewu Consortium made up of residents of the flatlands, on behalf of the City of Johannesburg to inform council planning for the regeneration of the area.
At the end of this process, the HBRI has produced a report with recommendations about how the flatland can be revamped and revitalised. These recommendations, said Openshaw, will be passed over to the City of Johannesburg to serve as the basis on which Hillbrow and Berea could be improved.
The main thrust of the recommendations of the HBRI is that the council must engage people at all levels of the organisation, as well as members of its constituency, in a process of defining developmental local government at both a theoretical and practical levels.
However, the HBRI is not waiting for the authorities. "We have already started the process of making our areas better and clean," said Openshaw. He pointed out that the street performances have already had a positive effect. "Muggings and robberies in the streets where the artists have performed have already gone down," he said.
More important, however, was the successful establishment of a people's centre that is used both as an office for the HBRI and a community centre. The centre serves as a space where residents meet to share ideas and common concerns as well as to access information.
The HBRI office is made up of seven staff members, who include a project co-ordinator, an administrative assistant and five part time fieldworkers. The field workers, who each have been assigned a small geographic area of Hillbrow and Berea, involve residents in their area in the planning process, raise awareness about the existence of the office and the general issues relating to the Initiative.
Based on views expressed by residents of what they would like their area to be, a group of five visual artists have collaborated in producing murals and banners publicising the Initiative. The works of art also include life-size banners and murals showing the type of environment in which the residents would want to live.
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