Bethabile Mavis Manqele mops the veranda of the house she has lived in for most of the last 40 years. The ceiling above her is full of holes, blackened by years of cooking fires. Manqele, 64, isn’t sure how many people live in the house’s seven rooms. There are no utilities, the landlord is absent and she hasn’t paid rent in years, she says through a translator. The occupants share a portable toilet provided and cleaned by an NGO, plus one outdoor tap with the house next door, which has no roof.
Manqele’s home in the inner city district of Berea is emblematic of Johannesburg’s downtown, which was progressively abandoned by wealthy people, businesses and government from the 1980s. Hundreds of buildings left empty by landlords are now overcrowded, and the area is notorious for crime.
