While Parts I and II of Being a Tourist in my Own City spoke about the tours that are on regular offer, the tours here either only happen annually or are once offs. Hopefully the weekend of #JoziWalks will happen again this winter.
#JoziWalks sponsored by the the JDA (the Johannesburg Development Agency)
This is a annual annual weekend of free guided city walks which are led variously by local community activists, entrepreneurs and heritage experts. In 2018 I joined His and Hers Jams tour of Orlando Soweto and the next day met Lucky (aka Villah) Nkali and his team #BikesMustRise for a cycling tour of Diepsloot. I, very generously (!), lent my bike to somebody younger and more agile than I am, and rather more happily and securely navigated people and very uneven surfaces on foot! A year later in 2019 we visited Alex with Harry Nakeng and Maboneng Township Experiences (not to be confused with the Maboneng district of south-east Joburg). Having met Harry, some time later a group of us visited Madala Hostel with him (sadly the Shembe Church visit which was meant to happen, didn’t transpire). You can contact Harry (phone or What’s App) on 074 261 8531. I missed the 2020 walks as had to observe a personal strict Lockdown. It seems Lockdown put paid to all walks in 2021, so I eagerly await the 2022 #JoziWalks weekend.
Johannesburg In Your Pocket
This excellent publication with its highly informative weekly newsletter is the bible of all things to see and do in Jozi. Laurice Taitz, the mover and shaker behind this little gem, often arranges ad hoc tours of truly interesting places. A few years back Laurice arranged a tour with JDA of new and or special Jozi sites. From Jozi’s secret underground tunnels under the Jeppe Street Post Office we moved on to visit the newly opened Hallmark House in Maboneng (which I revisited on a recent tour to Jewel City … an upcoming blog). For more on Hallmark House. And ended up at that funkiest most innovative of office spaces: Nandos Head Office. All are well worth a visit. More on Nando’s.
On the subject of Nando’s witty but biting satire see their 2014 Blue Light Brigade advert.