The book The Chaos Precinctis a valuable addition to non-fiction urban literature capturing the metamorphosis of a city in transition

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

Authorities see it as a problem district in the inner city which needs law enforcement to bring what they believe is order.

They see the hive of activity as problematic to city planning and law enforcement -the crowded pavements where hawkers and walkers bum on each other, and traders’ shops take up every available space, music blaring from speakers hung on shop windows, melding with the noise of people walking and talking at the top of their voices, creating a mosaic of ambiguous sound. It is music but not quite so, but sound nevertheless that does not have a specific definition.

This is what has become of that part of inner-city Johannesburg that has now been given the nickname of Chaos Precinct by authorities not impressed by the fact that counter fake gods from China are traded in the shops lining up the pavements and in the overcrowded small shops that have been subdivided for the use of traders.

But beyond what looks like chaos is a well-organized commercial complex chaining out fast fashion and big money worth millions. At the centre of Jeppe, as the shopping mecca that has been created by Ethiopian immigrants in South Africa on the Eastern side of Jeppe Street, not far from the monumental Noord Taxi Rank seated on its east.

Business at the centre of which are Ethiopian immigrant entrepreneurs, is a booming business where competition for rental space for shops has driven rental prices to hit through the roof. The traders and property owners, the landlords, mainly South Africans and a few Ethiopians who have graduated from being shop owner to real estate are making a killing.

The competition or rental spaces by entrepreneurs is so fierce that an upfront payment to have the acquire the lease for long term tenancy, called Key Money, has been introduced.

It is said that it is not unexpected or surprising today to hear of R300 000 Key Money payment for say a five-year lease between the landlord and the main tenant at this shopping mecca now going by the street name of Jeppe. The main tenant in some cases sublets portions of the property by subdividing it into several small shops. Re configuration of the architectural plans of the building without of course city planners’ permission is a well intrenched culture that has taken root, with of course the agreement of property owners

This is a space where one can find any sort of good, often sold as single items, but also in small batches to a population that has clearly fallen in love with extra ordinary consumptive behaviour.

A new book by urban planner and writer who has been beating the streets of the city as a planner since 2009, Tanya Zack well captures what is happening around Jeppe.

She has done this meticulously by tracing the genesis of this mecca driven by the hungry and ambitious Ethiopians entrepreneurs who started flocking into South Africa mainly after the country attained freedom in 1994 as variably economic refugees, but also as asylum seekers running away from violence back home in Ethiopia.

Tany has captured their story in a book that makes one understanding The Chaos Precinct around Jeppe shopping complex much better. Her engaging writing style has both street and place sensibilities. The book also has narratives of some of the leading figures behind the booming city business led by these immigrants, telling their individual stories of how, when and why they ended up in South Africa, and of course the trading businesses they set up here. Some have become successful and have settled in South Africa with their families, while others, especially the new comers struggle with obtaining legal papers.

Buit what is clear is that these communities have managed to create a shopping mecca right in the heart of the city where they have firmly established themselves financially, running vibrant and profitable businesses from properties that have become expensive either to rent or buy. In fact, around the chaos district, according to the book, some properties that 20 years ago, were worth less than a million Rand are now selling for millions. And so, value has been created around the place making both property owners and the traders rich.

This is a valuable book recommended for a wide audience-the general public wondering what is going on around the Chaos district that some of us look at curiously from a distant, but fear to get closer, sociologists  trying to make sense of who has replaced white businesses that have since migrated to the north, and urban planners who need to factor in the fact that these traders are here and they can no longer be regarded as just informal traders who are a nuisance, but rather come up with plans that accommodate what has become of Johannesburg inner city. This is not a passing phase, but rather looks like it is a permanent feature of the future of the City of Gold.

Therefore, The Chaos Precinct may just as well be accepted as an additional element of making the new Johannesburg a vibrant African city and city planners must therefore not just dismiss what is going on there and not see the value that has been created around that place, where millions are exchanged between shoppers for inexpensive commuters, goods and the traders on one hand, and between landlords and their tenants.

Therefore, The Chaos Precinct: Johannesburg as a port city as a valuable addition to non-fiction urban literature, capturing well the metamorphosis of a city always in transition to something new.

The book is published by Jacana Media.