Flocking to Braamfontein
In the early to mid-2010s, Braamfontein, on the edge of Joburg’s City Centre, was one of the coolest places to be. People who wouldn’t ordinarily have ventured into the district made the pilgrimage from other parts of the city to experience its energy. What was then called Neighbourgoods Market on Juta Street was a major drawcard, surrounded by art spaces, restaurants, clothing stores, and design studios taking up residence in ground-floor spaces nearby. On weekends, it was common to park your car at the market and spend the afternoon exploring on foot. This pocket of Braamfontein was a place to wander, be surprised, and feel like you belonged.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, the rhythm of the streets changed. While institutions such as the Wits Art Museum (WAM) have remained and the much-loved Kitchener’s Bar has been given new life, other spaces – such as nightlife spot Great Dane – didn’t survive the hit, while galleries moved on to more suburban settings. The empty pavements and shuttered facades left a visible scar on a neighbourhood once synonymous with youth and creativity.
Initiatives like Play Braam have stayed despite these challenges and have been instrumental in reigniting the district’s street life and sense of possibility. Braamfontein is still a cultural destination – but much of it is hidden. Other spots exist in a kind of vacuum, without easy, safe passageways to encourage people to move between spaces.
A snapshot of Braamfontein today reveals many thriving businesses: Boys of Soweto has its headquarters here, Mamakashaka & Friends has become a favourite gathering place for Joburg’s creative community, and unusual spaces – like a rooftop basketball court and Mediterranean-inspired beach club – are giving locals and visitors new reasons to come back.
Turning the tide
in Braamfontein, starting behind Joburg Theatre. Photo: Johannesburg In Your Pocket.
A recent development that has us even more excited for the future of Braamfontein is the Ameshoff Street Identity & Placemaking Project. The initiative revitalises both ends of Ameshoff Street, stretching from the Theatre Plaza behind the Joburg Theatre to the Eland sculpture by Clive van den Berg, spanning four city blocks.
In global terms, it’s a modest stretch – the kind you’d stroll without thinking twice. But for Johannesburg, where walking between districts isn’t always encouraged or easy, this small transformation feels significant. More than an urban facelift, the project marks an important shift in how we think about safe – and social – public space in the city. This is especially important in a student-heavy district like Braamfontein, home to some 30,000 Wits University students who spend time on campus daily.
The project is the result of a collaborative partnership between the Braamfontein Improvement District (which includes Wits University), Liberty Group, Joburg Theatre, and the Consolidated Urban Management Corporation (ConUrban). Together, these partners combined expertise in urban planning, cultural programming, and property management to reimagine Ameshoff Street not just as a thoroughfare, but as a place where people can linger, gather, and experience the neighbourhood in a new way.
As Israel Mogomotsi, director of services at Wits University, noted: "The partnership between the public and the private sector is a shining example of how collaboration can drive real, sustainable change. Together, we are showing that urban renewal is not just a policy objective – it is something we can see, touch, and experience in our streets and public spaces."
Creativity leads the way
At the heart of the Ameshoff Street project is a small but powerful intervention: a beautiful new piazza opposite the Joburg Theatre, anchored by a large circular fountain. Where there was once a neglected patch of paving and a tired water feature, there’s now a calm, welcoming space designed for rest, reflection, and connection. The fountain is framed by built-in, curved concrete benches, inviting people to sit and watch the water or meet friends between classes and performances.
The design was led by Dionne MacDonald of the Spaza Art Collective, whose mosaics are scattered across the city – each one part artwork, part map. This piece draws on the idea of Joburg’s role as a continental watershed, where rivers flow eastward to the Indian Ocean and westward to the Atlantic. MacDonald’s art-making approach can be likened to an urban compass – a way for people to understand where they are and how each space relates to the broader city.
surrounded by comfortable seating. Photo: Johannesburg In Your Pocket.
The project also champions a design language that centres welcoming design, pushing back against the spikes, rails, and barriers that so often dominate Johannesburg’s public spaces. Instead, there are trees for shade, comfortable seating, custom light poles and string lights, and clear sight lines – all of which make the space feel both open and protected.
If you’ve been near Joburg Theatre lately, you might have noticed the shops and cafés nearby – Food Lover’s Market, Seattle Coffee – that spill gently into the pedestrian area on Ameshoff Street. A space to grab lunch, sit by the fountain, and, for a moment, forget you’re in the middle of the city.
To the west, the transformation continues at Eland Square, home to Clive van den Berg’s iconic Eland sculpture. Here, new seating, lighting, and communal gathering areas have been introduced, creating a space that is safer, more accessible, and more inviting – reinforcing the idea that Braamfontein’s streets can be as much about culture, community, and connection as they are about movement.
The launch: A day of culture on the street
The project’s official unveiling on Fri, Oct 17, 2025 became a celebration of everything Braamfontein represents. Performers from across Joburg brought it to life: the JMPD Brass Band, Wits Choir, Soweto String Ensemble, Joburg Ballet, and even Spanish flamenco dancers. It was a joy to witness as office workers stopped to watch, students leaned out of windows, and security guards filmed on their phones – everyone was simply entranced. For a few hours, Ameshoff Street felt like a festival ground.
Photo: Johannesburg In Your Pocket.
What made it so moving wasn’t just the performances, but the way they revealed what’s always been true of Braamfontein: it’s one of Joburg’s most culturally alive neighbourhoods, even if that energy has often been hidden behind walls and gates. The day hinted at what could happen if more of that creativity were given space to exist in the open, and if the street itself became part of the performance.
What struck us is that this project is not just lip service: flipping the script in this way has real power to change how people feel about the spaces they’re in. Johannesburg sorely needs this.
The sea starts here by Dionne MacDonald
adorns the water feature. Photo: Johannesburg In Your Pocket.
Dionne MacDonald shares the inspiration behind her Watershed mosaic outside of Joburg Theatre:
“Johannesburg sits on a watershed. The ridge runs from west to east. Rain that falls to the south of the ridge flows into the Vaal River, then to the Orange River and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. Rain that falls north of the watershed flows via the Limpopo River system and eventually into the Indian Ocean. The ridge is illustrated in the mosaic with orange contour lines.
In the mosaic, the Klip Rivier runs at the bottom of the fountain from the South side towards the Atlantic. The Jukskei River (which actually rises in Joburg) runs towards the Indian Ocean.
Our two oceans flow over the fountain wall in rhythmic mosaic. The warm Indian Ocean, deep blue, to the East, quieter than the frothy cold aquas of the stormy Atlantic to the West.
The R24, now called Albertina Sisulu, also stretches from West to East of Johannesburg alongside the ridge. The Ring Road circles Johannesburg. Even our man-made tarmac streams move in accord with the landscape.
Our Johannesburg skyline radiates from the central compass sun face. The Iconic Hillbrow tower and Ponte sit at the Eastern Gate, A mine shaft and the Calabash Stadium in the South, Brixton tower in the West and Sandton in the North. To the North West and North East, two other Braamfontein landmarks are located: Wits Great Hall and the Old Fort at Constitution Hill.
The flow of water out of Johannesburg to the sea reminds us that we and nature are intricately interconnected.”
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