Jewish Affairs

Menu

Jewish Contributions to Johannesburg Inner City Development

Author: Published on: Published in: Politics & Human Rights

(Author: Naomi Musiker, Vol. 67, No. 1, Pesach 2012)

  • Feature image:  Inner City Housing Upgrade Trust AGM, 1997: Gerald Leissner (GM), Taffy Adler (CEO) and Gauteng MEC for Housing Dan Mofokeng.

According to the Urban Management Department of the City of Johannesburg, the Inner City is divided into four quadrants: Greater Ellis Park and Jeppestown, Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville, The City Centre (CBD) and finally Newtown, Fordsburg and Braamfontein.1

Jewish tradesmen, entrepreneurs and property developers played an important role in the original establishment of the inner city. Examples of these are Isaac Sonnenberg, Leo Rosettenstein (Rosettenville), Samuel and James Harris Goldreich (Hillbrow) and Hyman Morris, who invested in the city centre. One of the most important of these early entrepreneurs was Barney Barnato, who founded the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company which developed Doornfontein and Berea.

Johannesburg inner city began experiencing massive degeneration in the 1980s following the relocation of many businesses to the outer suburbs. By the late 1990s, there was an urgent need to remedy the urban crises in the areas of safety and security, service delivery, urban management, traffic management, refuse collection and road rehabilitation.

Even prior to that date, some private initiatives were undertaken to regenerate the Johannesburg inner city in the form of the transformation of old buildings into theatre and restaurant facilities.

In 1967 Adam Leslie, musical entertainer and theatrical personality, took over a building in End Street, Doornfontein, that was first designed by Sir Herbert Baker for Lady Farrar, wife of the mining magnate Sir George Farrar. The foundation stone of the South African College of Music was laid in 1906 and contained a small but impressive concert hall. Leslie became interested in restoring the little theatre in End Street after his lease at the Intimate Theatre expired. He converted the building into a musical hall of 200 seats, with the help of his then partner, Joan Blake, and used it for his musical revues. He also established a restaurant and two bars. The Music Hall nostalgically captured the early days of Johannesburg as a mining town. Bill Hudson became manager after the departure of Blake. In 1975, partly for reasons of health, Adam Leslie sold the Music Hall, which sadly was never again used for this purpose2.

Another talented theatrical personality who, from 1968 onwards, transformed unlikely venues into viable theatre spaces was Mannie Manim. The Arena Theatre in Doornfontein, which later made way for the Wits Technikon, used to be an  old house. It was at the Arena that famous names in the theatre world such as Mannie Manim, Barney Simon, Vanessa Cooke, Janice Honeyman and Danny Keogh formed the theatrical group known as The Company.  Later theatrical transformations included that of the Blue Fox restaurant, The Village Theatre from an old store, and   the old church in Braamfontein which became The Nunnery where numerous productions were staged. The most ambitious project was In 1984, when the old Newtown Market was converted into three theatre venues and included, on the suggestion of Barney Simon, a so-called ‘Rehearsal Room’ which was used for up-and–coming performances by amateur companies who could not afford the cost of lavish theatre productions.3

The Alexander Theatre in Siemens Street, Braamfontein, was named after the founder of the Johannesburg Repertory Players (JRP), Muriel Alexander, a renowned actress, director and teacher of speech and drama. The idea for the theatre was first mooted in 1929 by the JRP but it was not until 1951 that the theatre could be built as a result of life memberships and donations from the public. Once opened, it played host to a myriad of productions and plays, including dramas, both classical and modern and musicals.

Unfortunately, the theatre became the victim of the urban decay that threatened the inner city and resulted in dwindling audiences and the closure of the theatre in 1997. Due to the efforts of the JRP and the theatre’s owners, including Jack Ginsberg, who shouldered the burden of keeping the theatre intact, the Alex underwent a R2.5 million refurbishment and reopened in 2001.4 The theatre today forms part of the portfolio of Play Braamfontein, an investment company owned by the property developer Adam Levy, who refurbished 151 Smit Street into luxury apartments, converted 70 Juta Street into a successful retail and studio development and converted the Milner Park Hotel into offices5.

The regeneration of the Inner City is largely due to the efforts of the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), working in tandem with various private sector bodies such as the Johannesburg Inner City Business Coalition, the Central Johannesburg Partnership and the Johannesburg Housing Company. The JDA us a wholly owned agency of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, which supports area-based development initiatives throughout the Johannesburg Metropolitan Area.6

The JDA was formed in 2002 as part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality’s iGoli 2002 re-engineering process and the ‘iGoli 2010 framework’. Its aim was to regenerate decaying areas of the city, unlock public and private sector investment in marginalized areas, promote economic empowerment, promote productive partnerships and cooperation between all stakeholders in area–based initiatives and develop best practice and organizational expertise on area based initiatives. The JDA also established the Halala Awards, presented annually to individuals, developers and projects in recognition of those who are transforming Johannesburg and supporting the rebirth of the city.

From 2005 to 2010, Lael Bethlehem served as Chief Executive Officer of the JDA, with Adam Goldsmith as Company Secretary. Projects initiated during her term included the rapid bus transit system (Rea Vaya) to Soccer City, the revamp of areas around the High Court Precinct in the Central Business District, replacement of paving in the Smal Street Mall and the regeneration of the Fashion District at the eastern end of the CBD7 8.

The core area of the Fashion District is bounded by Polly, President, Troye and Pritchard Streets. Its planned centre was named the Fashion Kapitol in Pritchard Street, which would house an open square and amphitheatre for public meetings and events, a catwalk for low cost fashion shows, a curio/craft shop and coffee shop9. Rees Mann cofounded the Fashion District with the City of Johannesburg. He felt a particular affinity with this project because of his family connections to the clothing industry. Mann was appointed executive director of the square and buildings and manager of the Fashion District Institute (FDI). Adam Levin, the award winning fashion author became Specialist Fashion Consultant. The FDI aimed at encouraging local retail, food and beverage operations, local designers, manufacturers and fashion businesses.

Jewel City, consisting of four blocks on the eastern end of the CBD with entrance in Main Street, was another development promoted by the JDA. The private sector, largely in the form of Apex Hi, contributed generously to the upgrade of this area. Jewel City consists of offices and workshops for about 300 diamond dealers and manufacturers. The Diamond Board and Bourse, a training school, Diamond Merchants’

Association, the Rough Diamond Master Cutters’ Association and the Jewellery Council are housed there10. The area is bordered by Commissioner and Main Streets in the north and south and Berea and Phillip Streets in the east and west.

The development of the Fashion District and Jewel City served as a stimulus for the upgrading of other areas in the eastern end of the CBD through private initiative. One of these was the Maboneng Precinct in Fox Street established by Jonathan Liebmann, head of the development company, Propertuity11. Maboneng included Arts on Main, a converted early 1900s bonded warehouse, and Main Street Life, consisting of art galleries, restaurants, theatres and shops. Main Street Life is home to the 12 Decades Art Hotel and Bioscope.  This project won a JDA Halala award in 201012.

The set of four buildings directly opposite Jewel City precinct on Berea Street was bought by developer Ricci Polack who planned to establish a mixed-use development with loft apartments, offices, a piazza, restaurant and art collection. The JDA was also responsible for the creation of the Greater Ellis Park Precinct (later renamed the Coca-Cola Park Stadium) with improved bus and taxi transport facilities; the creation of improved social housing and parks in Bertrams and other areas and the upgrading of streets and pavements in Hillbrow, Berea, Yeoville and Doornfontein. The Maurice Freeman Park in Bertrams was upgraded into the Bertrams Cricket Oval, managed by the Johannesburg Cricket Club.

Various public art works were also erected to beautify the city centre including a dynamic structure by William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx on the Nelson Mandela Bridge and various art works in prominent positions such as the Library Gardens Station, Carlton Station on Market Street, Johannesburg Art Gallery Station on Twist Street, all along the Bus Rapid Transport System.13

An agency which has a marked influence on the regeneration of Johannesburg’s inner city suburbs, is the Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC), which was formally launched in 1995 and pioneered social housing development and inner city regeneration. Taffy Adler, a former trade unionist, became the first CEO of the JHC in 1996, a position he held until 201014. The agency’s goal was to improve the poorest of neighborhoods plagued by crime, inadequate municipal services and empty office buildings. It sought to provide accommodation for people with low incomes and co-operate with communities and building owners to encourage the creation of clean and safe environments. The Makhulong A Matala community development project was created to support tenants in their social upliftment15.

One of the JHC’s most successful projects was the Brickfields Housing Company in Newtown, a private company which was partnered by both the public and private sectors. This company won a Halala award in 2008. Another project of the JDA was the E’Khaya Neighborhood in Hillbrow, which brought together property owners to clean their neighborhoods and make them safe16. Josie Adler, sister-in-law of Taffy and a professional community organizer and consultant to the JHC, was much involved in the project, which commenced in a derelict five block district in Hillbrow between Pietersen and Claim Streets. Property owners in areas around Plein Street and northern Hillbrow were so impressed by the E’Khaya Neighborhood model that they decided to follow it in their areas.

In 2006, with the help of property owners in the suburb of Berea, including Trafalgar Properties and Ithemba Properties, Josie Adler established Legae La Rona CID, the first formal city improvement district in a residential area in Johannesburg, in terms of CID legislation.17 By 2010, the organization had provided low cost housing to 9000 people in 3322 units across 27 buildings in the inner city of Johannesburg. The JHC is a non-profit organization which relies on rental fees and grants.

Private Property Developers

One of the first of Johannesburg City Improvement Districts was Gandhi Square18. In 1998 Gerald Olitzki, a law practitioner at the time, bought his first building on the square, then known as Van der Bijl Square. In 1994, he entered into negotiations with the City of Johannesburg for a lease over it. After seven years of negotiations, he received the go-ahead in 2001 and commenced the rejuvenation of what was known to be one of the crime hotspots of Johannesburg. The Gandhi Square Consortium was formed to raise money to upgrade the area. The square became a thriving transport hub and several high profile companies have their businesses stationed around the square. The success of the square resulted in the redevelopment of Main and Fox Streets which became a vibrant pedestrian precinct with restaurants and coffee shops.

In 2008, Olitzki Property Holdings received a Halala Award, sponsored by the JDA in the category ‘Relaxing and Playing Johannesburg’.

Gerald Leissner, business leader, Jewish communal leader and philanthropist,19 began his career in inner city development after becoming managing director of Anglo American Properties (Amaprop) in 1974. He was involved in redevelopment projects including the Diagonal Street upgrade and the Carlton Centre upgrade. In 2001, he took over 15 properties from Anglo which formed the original core of Apex-Hi, a loan stock company, later expanded to 400 properties nation- wide. He became involved in the turnaround of Braamfontein and the Johannesburg CBD which were declining rapidly. He was one of the founder members of the Central

Johannesburg Partnership, established in 1992 as a private non-profit company20. The CJP instituted the establishment of City Improvement Districts, defined geographic areas within which property owners agree to certain payments over and above the normal rates and taxes, for outsourced services such as cleaning and security. The CJP created employment opportunities, and aided developments such as the Constitutional Court and Gandhi Square, and advised local government on inner city policy and informal trading by-laws.

Leissner was also a member and donor of the JHC and the Inner City Housing Upgrading Trust and Foundation 2000. He decided to keep his company headquarters in Braamfontein and was involved in the revamp of Total Centre, the Civic Towers and 61 Jorissen Street.

Leissner further encouraged other property developers to invest in urban renewal. An example is Aengus Lifestyle Properties, owned by Richard Rubin and Gavin Meskin, who in partnership with Apex-Hi created various upmarket apartment buildings for rental in the CBD and in Braamfontein. Aengus has worked closely with the universities of the Witwatersrand and Johannesburg to meet the needs of students for accommodation close to campus. Loft apartments have been created in Ameshoff Street, De Beer Street, Bertha Street, Stiemens Street and Biccard Street21.

Leissner’s application of South Africa’s BEE policy to his company, Apex Hi, was a truly remarkable endeavour22. He created a model that encouraged listed shareholders to sell their shares to new BEE partners, ensuring that they benefited from the transaction. While 50% of the BEE allocation went to a black commercial partner, the rest was offered to a broad-based empowerment trust. In 2008, Makhulong A Matala, the JHC community development project, was able to realize a return on its participation in the Apex Hi Black Economic Beneficiaries Trust and set up an endowment type investment to ensure its long-term sustainability. This business model resulted in Leissner receiving a special nomination in the Drivers of Change Awards sponsored by the Mail & Guardian and South African Trust in 200723. In 2010, he was awarded the South African Council of Shopping Centres’ distinguished lifetime award.

Affordable Housing Company (Afhco) is one of the longest performing development agencies in the Johannesburg inner city. It was started by Wayne Plit in 1996. His brother, Renney Plit, joined him in 2001. In 2006, Old Mutual became a 50% shareholder, enabling Afhco to build up a property portfolio of over 5500 affordable innercity homes. The company’s residential target market is tenants earning between R3 500 and R10 000 a month with rentals starting from R1 500. The Company purchases old and derelict office buildings in the inner city and converts them to residential units24.

Renney Plit is involved in organisations which focus on Johannesburg property regeneration, including the Chairmanship of the Johannesburg City Council Mayoral Charter-Housing Plan Focus Group and various directorships including the Retail Improvement District, JHB Inner City Business Coalition, Property Owners and Managers Association and Fashion District Improvements Steering Committee.

One of Afhco’s social initiatives was the conversion of an old, abandoned Indian school in Mooi Street into an inner city pre-and primary school called City Kidz for inner city children.25 Renney Plit contributed R3 million to the refurbishment of the school and also received a grant from the JDA. Another project is the employment of deaf cleaners in the buildings. Security was enhanced by the appointment of ‘community ambassadors’, unemployed youths who were given some skills training and commissioned to patrol the streets of the inner city with radios.

Afhco also purchased buildings in the Doornfontein area, one of which was the old Nedbank in End Street. The derelict End Street Park opposite the building was upgraded and soccer fields, toilets, security guards and CCTV cameras installed. In 2010, Afhco was given a JDA Halala award in the corporate category for the refurbishment and upgrading of Cavendish Chambers in Jeppe Street. It was an old office block converted into 130 luxury affordable housing units with 24 hour security26. Another Afhco nomination in this category was the Greatermans building in Commissioner Street.

Alec Wapnick,27 CEO of City Property, pioneered the conversion of derelict office blocks in the Pretoria CBD into secure and attractive residential accommodation. He subsequently used the same model to transform industrial properties in the Johannesburg CBD. Wapnick developed an initiative called WORKS@registry, which bought up 70 to 80 properties which were then converted to middle income level apartments. One of its purchases was Registry House, which had been overrun by illegal occupants. A ten-story building opposite the aforementioned Fashion Kapitol, this was upgraded to house small businesses at affordable rentals. In the Troye and Pritchard Street areas, WORKS@Registry established an area in which small operators in trade, manufacturing and the storage of non-harmful products could function, close to their market and to means of transport28. In 2008, WORKS@Registry received a JDA Halala Award in the Working and Buying Johannesburg category.

A small section of Berea is Johannesburg’s first residential City Improvement District (CID). Its formation was largely due to the work of developerBrian Miller of Ithemba Property Trust, established in November 200529. The Berea CID consists of seven blocks running from Barnato Street in the north to Olivia Road in the south, bordered by Fife Avenue and Lily Avenue in the west and east respectively. There are plans to establish further CIDs in Berea and eventually Yeoville and Hillbrow.

Miller worked closely with the JDA to clean up buildings, streets and public open spaces and bring back services such as shopping centres, coffee bars and internet cafes. He also facilitated the Makhulong A Matala Project, which brought together property owners to clean up their neighborhoods and introduce security services. He was assisted by the Property Owners’ and Managers’ Association, which works to upgrade areas in street lighting, grass cutting and street signage. Since 2006, crime in Berea dropped dramatically due to the installation of security guards, CCTV cameras on street corners.

Miller has his base in The Metropolitan, a large residential block of some 402 units at affordable rentals. He owns seven blocks in Berea with a total of 1000 units, with trained building managers and maintenance teams. In 2008, Makhulong A Matala was nominated for a Halala award in the Caring Johannesburg category.

Difficulties Experienced by Property Developers

Building owners in the inner city complain of bureaucratic errors in the City of Johannesburg’s revenue department. Property developers who are buying up old and derelict office buildings and converting them into residential units continue to be billed commercial tariffs for rates, water and electricity, despite various meetings with city officials30. Electricity is 70% higher for commercial use.

Another problem is huge interim readings charged to building owners, despite the fact that independent meter readers took monthly readings and submitted them to the council.  Unresolved billing problems slowed down the issue of clearance certificates and held up the upgrading of buildings.

Private property developers in lower Braamfontein were also faced with the problem of area degradation in the vicinity of the Nelson Mandela Bridge, including vagrancy and neglect of pavements and infrastructure by the City Council.31 The latter insisted that the matter could only be resolved if property owners joined the Newtown and Braamfontein improvement districts, at an additional cost to themselves, a prospect which developers find unviable.

There is the danger that if the various problems facing property owners are not resolved, regeneration of the inner city would grind to a halt. The problems have been taken up by organisations such as the Property Owners and Managers Association.

The regeneration of the Inner City of Johannesburg is without doubt one of the highlights of the past decade, in the development of the megacity, widely acknowledged as the commercial hub and power house of the African continent. The Jewish contribution to this significant achievement has been the focus of this essay. It is further proof that the shrinking but still vibrant Jewish community has made and continues to play a crucial role in the development of Johannesburg.

 

Naomi Musiker, a veteran contributor to Jewish Affairs and long-serving member of its Editorial Board, has contributed numerous biographical articles for the Dictionary of SA Biography and the Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa and, as an indexer, has worked for some of South Africa’s leading publishers and indexed many important reference works. She has held the position of archivist at the SA Jewish Board of Deputies since 1992

NOTES

  1.  Garner, Gerald, Johannesburg: Ten Ahead: A Decade of Inner-City Regeneration, Craighall: Double G Media, 2011.
  2. Lawrence, Peter, ‘Adam’s farewell to End Street’, Sunday Times TVTimes and Colour Magazine, 31/8/1975.
  3.  Kramer, Pam, ‘Mannie makes more happen at the Market’, Sunday Express Review, 30/9/1984.
  4.  http://www.thealex.co.za/about/history, http://www.artlink.co.za/news_article.htm?contentID=15223
  5.  Brodie, Nechama, ‘Regenerate behaviour: Making the city sexy’, Mail& Guardian, 16-22/9/2011.
  6.  Johannesburg Development Agency. Annual Report 2009/10 Financial Year.
  7.  Cox, Anna, ‘Revamp for area around high court and other Johannesburg sites’, Star, 30/6/2008.
  8.  ‘Lael Bethlehem’s myriad monuments dotted all over Johannesburg’, SA Jewish Report 16-23/6/2010.
  9.  http:www.ifashion.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=791&Itemid
  10.  ‘Jewel City to sparkle soon’, http://www.joburgnews.co.za/2007/may/may9_jewelcity.stm
  11.  Brodie, Nechama, ‘Regenerate behaviour. Making the city sexy’, Mail &Guardian 16-22/9/2011.
  12.  JDA names inner-city regeneration award winners. http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/jda-names-inner-cityregeneration-award-winners-2020-05-14
  13.  Thurman, Chris, ‘Beauty rises out of the Big Smoke’s concrete’, Weekender. Review 31/10-1/11 2009.
  14.  Tonge, Diane, ‘Transforming the lives of thousands in South Africa through social housing: Taffy Adler, CEO of the Johannesburg Housing Company’, http://knowledge.insead.edu/SouthAfricaSocialHousing.cfm
  15.  ‘Funding Community Development/Johannesburg Housing Company’. http://www.jhc.co.za/funders/ funding_community_development
  16.  Jews well at the forefront of Johnnesburg CBD upgrade. SA Jewish Report 26 September 2008, p.32
  17.  Goldberg, Alison, ‘Josie Adler-Champion of the dispossessed and homeless’, SA Jewish Report 27/8/2010.
  18.  http://www.jda.org.za/news-and-media-releases
  19.  ‘Mr Property’ calls it a day after well on 45 years, SA Jewish Report 6-13/11/ 2009.
  20.  About the CJP: Overview. See the web site of the Central Johannesburg Partnership.
  21.  Stylish student digs are Jozi gold. Affordable accommodation not too hard to find, thanks to Aengus. Saturday Star. 28/1/2012.
  22.  ‘Well-deserved accolade for Gerald Leissner’, S A Jewish Report 16-23/11/2007.
  23.  Special Commendation-Drivers of Change Award: Gerald Leissner. http://mg.co.za/article/2007-10-25-for-thecommon-good.
  24.  ‘The Plit brothers – drivers of the inner city development, SA Jewish Report 29/10-5/11 2010.
  25.  Cox, Anna, ‘Flying colours for City Kidz’, Star 5/11/ 2010.
  26.  JDA names inner-city regeneration award winners. www.engineeringnews.co.za/article
  27.  www.cylex.co.za/company/city-propety-17419208.html
  28.  ‘Jews well at the forefront of Johannesburg CBD upgrade’, SA Jewish Report, 26/9/ 2008.
  29.  Davie, Lucille. Berea: Jozi’s first residential CID/Inner city. www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content &task=view&id=2121&Itemdi=254
  30.  Cox,Anna. ‘Billing glitches will damage inner city, Property owners and developers say they are owed millions’, Johannesburg Metrowatch, Star, 5/11/ 2010.
  31.  Cox, Anna, ‘Council sits on sidelines as Braamfontein sinks into decay’, Star, 18/2/2010.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

You may also like