JOZI - MY CITY, MY HOME # 3
One of the most recognizable signs in South Africa. It features in the opening shot of the daily Soapie "Sewende Laan/Seventh Avenue. The soapie supposedly is about the residents and shop owners of Seventh Avenue, a Melville landmark. As all soapie-things it's pure fiction. Seventh Avenue is picturesque and viby most of the time with some quaint old building and a side-walk coffee culture, but it's also a well known hang-out for drug dealers and their clients.
I pass the Africa Vision day care school on my way to work each day. This is painted on the outside wall of the little school. If we can do this for our children each day then we've done the best we can.
I also pass this building each day on my way to work (in the Crown Mines area). The large white cross is very noticeable from the road and I often wondered if it’s a church or perhaps a school. It's in the middle of a largely industrial area but seems to be a scene from the rural platteland, with the patch of mealies in front. It apparently is a run-down Presbyterian Church that was build on mine property. There were a couple of old black men sitting in the sun outside, all Portuguese speaking. I wonder why they're hanging out in this part of the world, maybe some flotsam of the large across border influx of mineworkers from Mozambique.
I found someone to interpret and established that one of the old men was the pastor of the church. He was not overly friendly and quite distressed that I dared take a picture of the church without his permission. (Sorry)
Oh and then the ever present rubbish. It'll take an hour to clear and the church will look much more attractive but no-one bothers.