The Bree Taxi Rank, in Johannesburg Central Business District a hotpot for crime in the area and frequently avoided.
It is known as a centre for illegal drug trade and underground crime. The location is a hi-jacking hotspot and well known as one of the most dangerous places to walk around in the city. The mini skirt march, held in February 2012, this year highlighted just one of the many incidents where harassment and assault have been allowed to run unchecked. The two girls, wearing mini-skirts, were attacked by taxi drivers in the Noord Street Taxi rank. The scenes were caught on CCTv cameras. Incidents like the mini-skirt rape are not rare. It is estimated that up to 500 000 commuters leave “Genzi” every day. Opened in 2003 the rank is the largest in the city. However there is more to this hubbub than a centre rife with criminal activity. In this small space is a city that lives and thrives on the meagre livings on the minimum wage earner. From the taxi driver to the Spaza shop seller there is an intimate community of people living in these harsh, and often desperate, conditions. Many are chasing dreams of greater fortune. While others are there because there is nowhere left to go. The space is a landscape that reflects South Africa’s lower end of economic earnings. According to Stats SA, of the million people living in Johannesburg 25% percent of them are unemployed. Despite the fact that the South African government spent R100 million building the taxi rank the inner layer of the taxi rank is littered with refuse and human waste. With no working electricity and nor any sort of police presence much that goes on in this location is left unseen. What sort of life is there where people fear to go? Is the reality of working and living in the taboo justifiably placed? This project focuses on seeing what is left unseen by CCTV. It aims to explore and uncover the reality of life for almost a quarter of the city’s population.
Size: 4752px × 3168px
Photo credit: © Jay Correia Caboz / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: africa, african, black, building, city, crime, current, documentary, drug, dump, economic, environment, environmental, issue, issues, johannesburg, lifestyle, male, poor, poverty, problem, rank, road, rubbish, south, taxi, weed
