The following is written by Heather Mason. Wander further with her by subscribing to her blog, 2Summers.
Mason writes in her blog that a recent feeling of creative drought resulted in her cataloguing her travels across the city. While we empathise deeply, we can't help but cheer her kindred spirit that revealed five spaces we also think are worth visiting. Here's the list.
1. Cowboy Town, Krugersdorp
"I went to Cowboy Town for the first time last Sunday with Fiver. Cowboy Town is one of those Joburg places that is simultaneously off-putting and wonderful. It’s a huge market in Krugersdorp (a.k.a. Devilsdorp – if you know, you know) with a combination of brick-and-mortar shops and temporary stalls, all with an American Western theme. Cowboy Town has some great antique and clothing shops, as well as an interesting variety of restaurants and food stalls.
I have no idea how long Cowboy Town has been around, but it feels like it’s been there forever. Cowboy Town is open seven days a week but is busiest on weekends, when it has various themed markets and live music on Sundays. There was a guy singing a combination of karaoke-style Neil Diamond covers and American/Afrikaans country tracks.
I was a bit reluctant to visit Cowboy Town…The current state of the world has left me feeling unenthusiastic about anything that might remind me of America. But the moment we arrived, I knew my reluctance was unfounded. Cowboy Town is a fun, cheerful place, with quirky shopping and food, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I can’t wait to go back."
2. Die Pienk Kerk, Melville
"Many years ago, I wrote a post about “the Pink Church with a Blue Door”, a historic building on the border of Melville and Richmond that has been a church, a synagogue, an architecture practice, and a fine art print studio at various times in its lifespan. After a few years of sporadic occupation and neglect, the Pink Church has now become Die Pienk Kerk, a quirky restaurant and art gallery. [This is a space we also visited recently, and we love how Die Pienk Kerk is creating a new community heart for Melville].
Thorsten and I went to the grand opening of Die Pienk Kerk on Saturday evening (Sat, Oct 11, 2025), and it was wonderful to see new life breathed into the place. I’m really looking forward to the end of this month, when the next Karoo Gothic exhibition will open there. Die Pienk Kerk is worth a stop for breakfast, lunch, coffee, or dinner. (Dinner is from Thursday to Saturday only.)"
3. House Levitan, De Wetshof
"Last month, while on a Johannesburg Heritage Foundation (JHF) walking tour through an obscure suburb called De Wetshof, we came upon a historic home called House Levitan. The private home, designed by architect Ronnie Levitan, recently received a JHF blue plaque as one of the few Modernist homes in Joburg that maintains its original design and is not surrounded by a security wall or fence.
We didn’t go inside House Levitan on that JHF tour. But Thorsten was so taken with the house that he convinced the owner, Mark Varder, to let us come back a few weeks later to check out the inside.
House Levitan is on Adam Tas Street in De Wetshof, near Observatory. If you’re interested in seeing more interesting Jozi houses like this, I recommend checking out the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation tour schedule. [We also highly recommend it. Become a member, your dues go towards the important advocacy work of the foundation, and as a member you will get discounts on tours]."
4. Independent Traders, North Riding
"For those of you who haven’t already been following along on Instagram, Thorsten and I bought a house in Brixton and we are currently renovating that house. (Thorsten’s architecture firm, 26’10 South, is overseeing the renovation.) I will have a lot more to say about this process in a future post. But for now, I want to tell you about Independent Traders, a salvage yard/thrifting megastore that we’ve discovered during our renovation journey.
I had never been to a salvage yard before – I’m not sure I even knew what a salvage yard was. But we are now in the market for recycled house stuff and this quest brought us to Independent Traders, an enormous property strewn with old windows, doors, bathroom fixtures, security fences, lamps, furniture, books, weird Egyptian statues, and anything else that could come out of (or go back into) a house.
We’ve bought a big set of double doors and three light fixtures from Independent Traders so far. I have a feeling we’ll be back a few more times before this renovation is over."
5. Eyethu Heritage Hall, Soweto
"As part of a campaign for the Soweto Wine Festival in 2015, I visited the old Eyethu Cinema, South Africa’s first black-owned movie theatre. The theatre had been abandoned for quite a while at that time, and it was really fun to explore and take photos there.
A few years later, the land where Eyethu Cinema stood was developed into a shopping centre. Fortunately, part of the old theatre building was preserved and turned into a museum/heritage centre called Eyethu Heritage Hall.
When I first went back to Eyethu and saw that it’s now a shopping mall full of chain retailers, I felt a little sad. But the museum inside the hall is actually so nice and a great addition to the Soweto heritage/tourism scene. I went there last year for a Youth Day event and again recently for a Jozi My Jozi walk.
and all kinds of other entertainment, in addition to films. Photo: 2Summers.
The Soweto neighbourhood, where Eyethu Heritage Hall is, Mofolo Central, has a lot of other interesting stuff going on, and a group of creatives is working on a tourism route there called the Soweto Art Mile. I’ll definitely have more to say about the Soweto Art Mile in the future."
Read our take on Eyethu Cinema. We also loved our visit there, and the amazing work being done by Lerato Tshabalala Mini, whose family founded the cinema.
This article was written by Heather Mason. Subscribe to her blog here.
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