In the 80s and 90s, Rockey Street, and a big part of Yeoville, was an escape for those who wanted an alternative to the apartheid lifestyle. A grey area developed where people of different races and backgrounds could mix with one another. Today that same grey area...

Changing money on the streets of Yeoville leaves no paper trail. It’s easy if you know who and how to ask. The amounts are small and it is difficult to catch the traders. And the people doing it have some stories to tell about laws and legality. by Tendai Dube The...

Passing sewage pipes and vendors selling chicken feet on the busy sidewalks of Rockey Street, ‘Ace’ Nsiala walks by in his Versace suit and Givenchy shoes into the local Congolese pub at Kin-Malebo pub. The Congolese father and husband is a member of the La Sape – a...

Many other Africans look to South Africa as a land of opportunity. Papa Luc, a Congo national, hoped to build a new life for himself when he fled his war-ravaged country in 2007. His life in Yeoville has turned out differently from what he expected.  by Thabile Manala...

Little pieces of paper fight for space on a community wall symbolising the struggle to find accommodation in contemporary Yeoville. All spaces are offered, the rooftops of buildings, balconies and even basement storage space. The high number of people seeking to live...

Young artists dedicate their time to reflecting their feelings about everyday social issues. They make their music real and hope to take the young generation of Yeoville out of the streets that are growing with criminal activity as well as drug and alcohol abuse.

Once home to a thriving lesbian and gay community, Yeoville is now filled with homophobic attitudes and hatred, effectively cutting out a significant part of the community- its LGBTIs.  With little to no structural support in the area, people are forced to either rely...

Effective policing is difficult enough to deliver anywhere in the world but how do Yeoville police help the community if they don’t speak the same language? Bureaucracy, internal politics and conflicts of interest are additional hurdles the precinct must overcome. by...

For decades Yeoville was seen as “a Jewish suburb” until 1994 when many Jewish residents left the area. Now a new Jewish community is emerging. Rabbi Sylvester Obiekwe and his community are Nigerian Jews from the Igbo tribe. Their customs, traditions and beliefs have...

Rastafari are a significant part of the Yeoville community and have made substantial strides to establish and integrate themselves. But this has created a problem in how they remain true to their cultural practices while conforming to Yeoville society. by Rofhiwa...

Yeoville is keeping the spirit of Afrocentric fashion alive. Residents from across Africa believe that fashion shows more than style but it reiterates their presence and their identity. The people of Yeoville wear their Afrocentric fashion or “African wear” daily and...

Some 50 churches jostle for space in Yeoville – physical as well as spiritual. In one case, three churches share a single garage and divide the hours for their Sunday services. Divisions are not just physical as pastors speak of the differences between “money-making”...

There is one resident in Rockey Corner who does not want to stay in Yeoville any more. She opens her door to the smell of decaying rubbish and fears her children will be victims of crime on their walk to school. She is happy with her building’s redevelopment but thinks her neighbours don’t belong.

Yeoville is a place of many creations and innovations. This group examined how these have affected the community, in ways that are both positive and negative. Lameez Omarjee investigated why a new ministry has been started in a suburb that is already filled with...

This group followed the social and economic currencies of Yeoville, as they investigated the movement in and around Yeoville of money, people and places. Robyn Kirk examined the life of Yeoville’s traders, demonstrating the struggle between legal and illegal trading....

This group looked at how Yeoville has changed over time.

Despite the large presence of both formal and informal churches in Yeoville, Joe Muthee has endeavoured to start a new church in the suburb introducing what could be called “the gospel according to Joe”.