Fortress Johannesburg

Material constructs have fashioned and helped to structure South Africa. Th roughout, not least in the thrusting, bursting commercial core of the count ry, Johannesburg, the ideology of racism has shaped and yet shapes our land scape. Everywhere, expressly in this coarse city of gold, buildings declare nakedly, often eloquently, what manner of people built them and what they stood for. As most citizens claw their way from formal to tangible liberati on, as others cling to privilege, these overt statements become more poigna nt, more fearfully security-conscious. Fortress Johannesburg. Join us in a journey of the mind's eye: from arrival by air as newcomers, perhaps touris ts, at the crass sterility of Johannesburg International Airport; as witnes ses to the bustling street life of an alien city centre; as eager consumers in the genteel shopping malls of lush, white suburbs. Visit a vibrant Afri can bazaar where newly arrived country folk meet with their city-wise fello ws in an appropriated setting. Then, in this land of searing poverty, ponde r with us the arrogant, the boorish anomalies of self-consciously luxurious banking halls, office parks, armed suburban enclaves. Travel through purpo rtedly impregnable zones of razor-wire, snapping guard dogs, manned sentry boxes, electronic security systems-Fortress Johannesburg. Recall all the wh ile-as though one could forget-a ubiquitous but now publicly unspeakable ar ticle of faith: the ever-present assumption that criminality, frequently vi olent, is an attribute of skin colour. Repeat with us, like a catechism, th ose simple but unnerving questions: whose city is this, who orders, who con trols Fortress Johannesburg?