Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe, Informal Settlement, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the center of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern sea board of South Africa. Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the skirts of South African Cities; it’s bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on the nearby N3 highway from the port of Durban and the industrial heartland of Johannesburg some 488 kilometers to the north. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slumlords who rent out their small rooms to who ever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of Pietermaritzburg. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home and people live here too. The same people who welcome a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. The Photographer Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your own preconceived ideas. The Jika Joe informal settlement close to the N3 highway did just that for me as a photographer. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the days, portraying an increasing South African urban reality if you will – no more, no less. The City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been 
Jika Joe straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit river in the center of the City of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of kwaZulu Natal. Jika Joe is just one of many informal settlements in South Africa; it’s bulk is made of mud, wood and card shacks. The roofs of Jika Joe are tarpaulin blown off passing trucks on the N3 highway, sheet metal and bits of hardboard. Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and common areas where people walk, talk and get together; and the children play. There is no centralised system ordering life as in the city’s surrounding suburbs, but rather many slumlords who rent out small rooms to others who need a place to stay close to their place of work in the CBD. Fires and the City of Pietermaritzburg’s attempts to ‘make better’ has removed much of what has been photographed here. Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and over crowding have been at the root of many fires in the area; and the city has replaced many of Jika Joes’ self built homes with long rows of temporary housing that locks these families into a faltering system of government housing far away from places of work that many South Africans just can’t afford. There are young people in this place who have resorted to what ever means are at hand in order to carve out an existence in this mix of cultures and African language. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, is also a home to these people – the same people who were always welcoming me as a photographer into Jika Joe’s morphing arms. Since 1994 more people not less have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the ‘New South Africa,’ the system of RDP housing has not kept up with these people’s demand for a home in the urban areas.
Jika Joe is an informal settlement that straddles both banks of the Dorpspruit River in the centre of Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of the province of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa.
Jika Joe is one of many informal settlements on the outskirts of South African Cities; its bulk is made of mud, scraps of wood and cardboard, the roofs of Jika Joe are sheet metal, bits of hardboard and tarpaulin sales blown off passing trucks on a nearby highway.
Squeezed in between these dwellings are walkways and taverns where the people of Jika Joe walk and drink together and roundabout the children play. Here there is no centralised system ordering life as in the surrounding city. Rather, Jika Joe just has many slum lords who rent out their small rooms to whoever needs a place to live that is close to their place of work in the nearby central business district of the city.
There are young people in this place who have resorted to whatever means are at hand to carve out an existence in this mix of culture and African languages. Jika Joe while having a reputation as a dirty, lawless and dangerous place, Jika Joe is also a home space and families live here too.
Dorothea Lange said that the photographer should just concentrate on what catches the eye, to do other then this is just photographing your preconceived ideas. These pictures are a series of photographs in the chronological order of ‘what was’ on the day and they portray an increasing South African urban reality.
Paraffin cookers, illegal electricity connections and overcrowding have also been at the root of many fires in the area. The City of Pietermaritzburg has replaced many of Jika Joe’s’ self-built homes with long rows of sheet metal temporary housing that lock many families into a faltering system of government low-cost housing that is far away from places of work that many of these people just can’t afford to rent.
Since the first democratic elections in 1994 more and more people have looked to informal settlements to gain a toe hold in the new South Africa. This movement from rural space to the urban is in line with global trends. The South African system of building low-cost housing has not kept up with its people demand for a place in the South African urban space.
The sight of these self-built homes on open tracts of South African land is not going to disappear anytime soon.
