I had to go into Johannesburg today for official business. It was worse than I experienced last time. Certain things stood out and it was disgraceful. How can something be allowed to drop that far and fall into disrepair.
It didn't start off too well as the parking we were going to use was flooded. Must have been the rain from Friday when we had the hail. It all made sense why there was so much standing water around everywhere. The rubbish and filth on the floor is disgusting. The drains are all blocked and the water has nowhere to run.
The stench from rotting waste hits the nostrils on a regular basis. There is no pride in keeping things clean and it reminded me of the filth in Maputo. I was last here about 10 years ago and this was the first time returning. It is very sad knowing what it used to be and then seeing the state of it now.
The drain covers are mostly missing with old car tires rammed into them. At least someone was thoughtful enough to kind of cover them up. There wasn't one Christmas decoration to be seen and if I didn't know better would have no idea Christmas was one week away.
Below a photo of the abandoned Carlton Hotel. It was a top hotel and has been left empty for over 20 years now.
We had one incident with the central locking as we went through a mobile jammer. I was not hanging around as while we were trying to lock the doors they kept popping up. This was fine, as we drove out of the range of the signal jammer.
This city is not for me and I don't plan to ever go back. It makes sense that 90 percent of businesses relocated many years ago. I have no idea what still happens here and what the draw card is for all the people milling around.
Image source deathofjohannesburg.b;ogspot.com,imgur.com and dojocarltonhotel.blogspot.com