Dark Side Of Gentrification: These Photos Tell How Poor Refugees Are Suffering In Johannesburg

The process of replacing poor population of a particular area with rich population, and reorienting the whole area along the lines of the rich is known as gentrification.

Gentrification is often used negatively, suggesting the displacement of poor communities by rich outsiders, bringing increased suffering and destitution to the poor due to the ability of the rich to afford high cost of living while the poor cannot.

As cities around the world continue to grow, especially in emerging economies and developing countries, gentrification has become a major problem for the poor in these countries. Expensive shopping malls, expensive apartments and five-star hotels are driving the poor away from where they are supposed to stay.

On the Plaid Zebra, the author Rob Hoffman, and the photographer, Fredrik Lerneryd explored a classical example of how gentrification has pushed the poor out of the residence in an emerging economy of the Republic of South Africa.

In the country’s biggest city of Johannesburg, Lerneryd photographed some appalling pictures of some residents who used to live in a neighborhood known as Carr Street, before they were forcefully evicted from the area for it to be developed into an expensive area for the rich.

According to Lerneryd who spent some time with these former residents of Carr Street, documenting their story, in 2008, a local court granted the city authorities to eject the residents living in the area in order for the area to be developed for the FIFA World Cup. In 2010, South Africa was awarded to host the FIFA World Cup. And by hosting the rest of the world, the country needed to improve on its physical infrastructure. Even before the country was awarded to host the football competition, the city of Johannesburg is said to have invested to a fast-track gentrification for what it called an inner City Regeneration Strategy.

It is said majority of the then Carr Street residents come from war-torn nations, most notably Zimbabwe, where political crisis erupted in 2008 resulting in mass state-sponsored violence and human rights violations. They fled to South Africa to seek a better life, and without papers, most ended up living in underdeveloped areas in cities of the country.

Therefore, in 2009, the local police department granted permission to a private security team, Red Ants to embark on a demolishing exercise in Carr Street. The poor residents watched as their homes were demolished. The Red Ants team is said to be very brutal when forcing residents out of their homes. Residents lost many of their belongings. In the end, city authorities could only compensate them by giving them a dilapidated building  located at Noord Street to be used as provisional shelter.

It is even said the residents got this building thanks to the court who granted the demolishing exercise. The judge ruled that the building should accommodate the residents for 12 months. The judge also said residents were expected to participate in the City’s job skills programme, find employment and a suitable place to live. The court also ordered the property developer of Carr Street to provide some money for the displaced residents to take care of cost of accommodations and to implement the job skills programme that they desperately needed.

But sadly, the money never came. For almost six years now, the former Carr Street residents are still occupying the dilapidated building they were given as temporal shelter. It has now become their permanent place.

Currently, it is said the building is home to about 400 residents. The building is four stories of make-shift rooms separated by hanging cloth, and a basement prone to flooding and mold. There are only five cold showers available in the building for the entire 400 people. Toilet facilities are nonexistence.

Majority of people living in the building are unemployed. And they have resorted to smoking and drinking. The fortunate ones have found some menial jobs. Women and children are most affected. It is becoming difficult for them to survive.

“They don’t have any papers or anything, so it’s hard for them to get work. Some of them work under the table, cleaning taxis. One lady in the building is selling cigarettes, beer and food, so she gets cash. But most people, I would say 80%, are unemployed. It’s hard for the kids”, Lerneryd said.

Some human rights lawyers in the past have tried to use the law court to compel city authorities to solve the plight of these unfortunate people.  But it is said city authorities have deliberately violated various orders by the court to improve the lives of the former Carr Street residents.

But as these poor people continue to suffer; their former residence is now for the affluent. Currently, the latest houses for sale at the Carr Street area range from R 700,000 ($44, 647)-R 4,500,000 ($287, 0172). This indeed is a classical case of the dark side of gentrification. And before the problem can be solved, leaders will have to demonstrate strong commitment to ensuring that the vulnerable in our societies are protected.

There is nothing wrong with us trying to improve our cities, but it is absolutely wrong if the new improvement will condemn certain class of people into perpetual poverty and destitution while the few benefit. That is not right. That is bad.

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