Welcome to centre of Africa’s shopping
Cross-border customers who flock to Johannesburg’s urban jumble spend an estimated R10bn a year
When metro police enter the vast warren of stores that trade from the area known as "Jeppe" in Johannesburg’s central business district, they unleash a wave of silence. Word travels swiftly. Without any warning to customers in their spaces, traders switch off music and lights. If they have roller shutter doors, these come down fast. As Tanya Zack, author of a new photobook — Johannesburg. Made in China — writes, "shopkeepers and customers know to remain silent as the shops, now turned hideout, pretend not to exist". "Yes, I’ve been locked in during raids," Zack says. "It stands out as one of my most extraordinary experiences — other than meeting a live sheep on the fifth floor of a building. The sheep wasn’t for sale; it was for an Ethiopian restaurant." Zack, an urban planner, and photographer Mark Lewis have just launched the latest title in their 10-book series Wake Up, This is Joburg. As is usual, they investigate people who "inhabit urban space in unusual ways". Previous titles...
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