Newtown is at the heart of initiatives to revitalise the inner-city of Johannesburg; to give it soul. Here you will find the renowned Market Theatre, jazz bars, dance studios and artists’ communes among museums, libraries and a host of places of historic interest. It is a Johannesburg must see and do.
Early Johannesburg
‘I come from the newly discovered goldfields at Kliprivier, especially from a farm owned by a certain Gert Oosthuizen,’ declared George Harrison on 24 July 1886 in an affidavit to the Pretoria Mines Department. ‘I have a long experience as an Australian gold digger, and I think it is a payable goldfield.’
The featureless highveld grassland expanse, dotted with a few thorn trees near the Bezuidenhout homestead and a cluster of bluegums on the bank of a small lake on the farm Braamfontein, was broken by the ridges of the Witwatersrand. Below this fairly ordinary surface, however, lay reefs of ore containing massive reserves of gold – heralding a rush of fortune seekers.
Wonder of Empire
No city on earth grew faster and by the Second World War, with its Art Deco ziggurat skyscrapers, Johannesburg had become the ‘Wonder of Empire’. ‘With its skyscrapers, Johannesburg is today no mean city,’ wrote Herman Charles Bosman in Johannesburg. ‘These tall edifices of concrete and steel would look highly imposing anywhere, leave alone just being dumped down in the middle of the veld.’
Much of this frenzied building activity was made possible by rich clay deposits along the Fordsburg Spruit on the western fringes of the city.
Poverty Point
There was a flipside to this glitter as the discovery of gold also brought with it a rush of impoverished people in search of employment. Many who could not find work as miners gravitated to the busy brick manufacturing works along the Fordsburg Spruit. Adjacent to this was the racially mixed slum of Brickfields, known in the city as Poverty Point.
The situation in the slum became more desperate a decade later with the closing of the brickworks to make way for Kazerne, Johannesburg’s first marshalling yard. And infinitely worse when the Anglo Boer South African War drove scores more off the land and into the ‘dark side’ that was Brickfields.
Newtown
An outbreak of bubonic plague in 1904 presented the Johannesburg City Council with the 
opportunity to clear this ‘den’ in what became the first forced removal in South African history. Brickfields was burnt to the ground and the district renamed Newtown. A produce and livestock market, a mill, an abattoir and a power station were erected in what soon became the trading hub of the city.
By the end of the 1970s the lustre had worn off and Newtown was a dilapidated shadow of its former self. The market had relocated and the power station closed; its cooling towers imploded and its imposing electric workshop and turbine hall left silent.
It was time for the rebirth of Newtown as a centre for creativity.
Rebirth
In the 1980s the renowned Market Theatre, the first non-racial theatre in Johannesburg, opened in the east wing of the old market building. It was followed by Kippies Jazz Bar, the Dance Factory, and Museum Africa in the rest of the complex. Other developments in the district included the South African Breweries Centenary Centre, Mary Fitzgerald Square and the Workers’ Library and Museum, which features an exhibit of a compound in which black municipal workers were housed.
Today Newtown is one of four flagship undertakings of Blue IQ, an initiative of the Gauteng Provincial Government to invest in identified mega-projects to revitalise the province’s economy. The scheme has involved the upgrading of the remainder of the area, improving facilities and providing a cleaner and safer environment and greater support for the creative industries and small businesses based in the district.
‘The creative industry has a special role to play in the economy and culture of the nation,’ commented ex-president Nelson Mandela. ‘And Newtown has for many years provided a home for creativity especially with the founding of the Market Theatre. Newtown has a significant role to play in the rejuvenation of the Johannesburg inner city.’
Visiting Newtown
There are a great many things to do in Newtown. Start with a cerebral journey through the museums, be inspired by the art, then experience the vibe.
There are fantastic eateries in the area. Try the Cape Malay offerings of Gramadoelas or the African influenced Moyo in the Market Theatre Precinct. Or visit the excellent Indian, North Indian and Pakistani establishments in neighbouring Fordsburg.
Then it’s time to party. If you enjoy taking on the dance floor then Carfax is for you. Or catch great South African maestros like Hugh Masekela live at Bassline. It is a place where the music never stops.
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