Some of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s staff at the Market Theatre
December 21, 2009 – Members of staff at the Nelson Mandela Foundation went on a special tour of Johannesburg on Friday. Organised by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), with which the Foundation enjoys a close relationship, the tour gave some of the Foundation’s staff a glimpse of ongoing urban renewal projects.
The tour went through Johannesburg city centre and ended at the newly revamped Soccer City football stadium in Soweto, which will host the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ opening game and final next year.
Outside the revamped football stadium Soccer City
“Johannesburg is a young city compared to the other major cities around the world,” explained Zanele Mamba, the JDA’s head of marketing and communications, “but it started to degenerate about 50 years ago.”
As a result of this degeneration, the city made a strategic decision to encourage inner-city investment to halt the degradation and to create a world-class African city, she said.
The Foundation’s staffers saw various pieces of street art that the JDA has installed in downtown Johannesburg, as well as the revamped area of Newtown, the financial and mining district, Library Gardens, the High Court, Fashion Square, the sporting precinct and Arts on Main, a complex dedicated to the work of artists.
Some of the street art at the Johannesburg Development Agency
In each case, private companies and individuals have partnered with the JDA to create modern, stylish oases in Johannesburg, with a view to the whole area being similarly upgraded. Each area has what Mamba described as “signature lights”, specific light fittings which demarcate one of the newly renovated areas. Private companies are employed, with the supports of the community, to ensure the sustainability of renovations in various parts of the city.
“The tour was really informative and exciting,” said Peter Moitse, the Foundation’s human resources officer. “I’ve seen so many new and exciting places in downtown Johannesburg. Now that I’ve been on the tour I understand where all the investment into Johannesburg has gone. It shows the significance of the partnerships between the public and private sectors.”