The Desegregation of Hillbrow, Johannesburg, 1978-82

Abstract

A cornerstone of apartheid was the enforcement of urban residential segregation. From the mid 1970s, however, the racial composition of the Johannesburg inner city, historically a white group area, altered dramatically. The paper illustrates that the national context in the 1970s made it increasingly difficult for the state to carry out its urban apartheid policy. The economic crisis increased the state housing shortage in the respective black group areas, thereby forcing people to migrate into the Johannesburg inner city where there was an abundance of accommodation. The political crisis and changing class composition of Afrikaners brought about hesitancy and division within the National Party as the more pragmatic verligtes battled against the conservative, verkrampte wing. This facilitated the movement of 'non-white' families into the Johannesburg inner city.