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South Africa

Photo Essay: Durban's decay and neglect

Daily Maverick’s Chief Photographer spent last week in KwaZulu-Natal on the election trail as the African National Congress rolled out the big guns in the contested and critical province. His camera captured images from Durban’s city centre.
Photo Essay: Durban's decay and neglect Decay at the Marikana building on University Street, Durban. 8 May 2024. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)
Felix Dlangamandla
By Felix Dlangamandla
14 May 2024
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Informal traders have taken over the sidewalks of the Durban CBD and Pietermaritzburg. Trying to navigate Durban, I couldn’t help but think how this once proud and beautiful city had become a shadow of its formal self. The city centre is overrun with homeless people, carrying recyclables and trying to sell their collections to trucks driving around. For many, this is the only way to survive, hoping to sell a few pieces of cardboard in return for a few rands to buy a meal.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Durban mayor acts like an autocrat while the city decays for all to see

Hawkers mostly sell food such as mealie meal and secondhand clothing, using anything with wheels to move their goods around.

Pietermaritzburg MK party and ANC posters hanging on a street pole in Pietermaritzburg CBD. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



As elections loom, campaign posters are on every lamp post, standing guard over dirty water flowing in the road gutters. It was heartbreaking to witness. DM

A garbage collector prepares a load of cardboards to be sold to recyclers in the city. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Durban A man crosses Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street in Durban, pulling a trolley heaving under a load of mealie meal which he will deliver to various informal traders. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Durban CBD Trolley operators in the Durban CBD lining up for more load requests as their way of making a hard-earned living moving wares for the street sellers. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Durban hawkers Discarded waste on the pavement corner Dr A B Xuma and Dr Yusuf Dadoo streets with hawkers living the streets. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Dragonwyck building Dragonwyck building at the corner of Broad and St Georges streets. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Park Road, Durban CBD Decay and filth on Park Road in the Durban CBD. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Garbage and discarded bins left in the middle of the road near Victoria Street in Durban. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Durban China Mall A Durban China Mall building that was damaged by fire in 2021. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Early Morning Market Taxis parked next to Durban’s Early Morning Market. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Durban An elderly lady tries to cross the street on busy Warwick Avenue. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Hawker A hawker selling chicken gizzards in Durban’s Warwick Avenue prepares the delicacy for his customers. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Warwick Avenue, Durban A trolley operator crosses the street on busy Warwick Avenue in Durban, near the Early Morning Market. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



garbage collector A garbage collector carries a load of cardboard to be sold to recyclers in the City. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Vegetable hawkers Hawkers selling vegetables in Durban’s Warwick Avenue prepare stock for their customers. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Marikana building Decay at the Marikana building on University Street, Durban. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Comments (6)

Fadila Canthitoo May 16, 2024, 11:15 AM

It’s reminiscent of the decay of Johannesburg CBD around 25 years ago. It’s quite sad to see. That old saying is true: “Things fall apart gradually and then suddenly.”

mkhamisas May 16, 2024, 09:15 AM

Now that we've seen the devastating pictures of the current situation, and have possibly spotted the problem, so, now, what is the solution? Is there a way out of this? Can we rebuild from what is left and make our cities great again? Because we cannot always solely blame the government and politicians, we are also part of the problem. The problem is that we see problems but we don't bother come up with solutions. This problem of dilapidated and vandalized buildings, and of littering is not only on the CBD. They are all over the place. I've seen even privately owned dilapidated buildings in Morningside, Glenwood, Overport, etc. Do we blame government on them too? The time for blame-game is over. We, people, should come up with solutions, and do away with the mentality of entitlement. It is the mentality of entitlement that make us not to act and give solutions. We are entitled that the government must do it, not us.

graemebirddurban May 16, 2024, 08:01 AM

Once again so many of the comments here reflect the ignorance of racists shouting from their ivory towers. While the Durban CBD is definitely a mess compared to pre 1994 that was clearly an era so many of them wished they could still be living in. Oh and many of those pictures are of areas that looked virtually the same in 1993 but that none of these commentators would have ever dared leave their plush suburbs to visit.

Patterson Alan John May 16, 2024, 05:34 AM

I have all the pictures I need in my memory of living in Durban between 1958 and 1990 and the nostalgia of Stuttafords clock meeting point, Payne Bros, ABC Shoes, University of Natal Latin lectures in City Buildings, surfing the beaches, night window shopping and all of the rest. Then I went to work in Transkei in 1990, living in Umtata for 3.5yrs, where the future South Africa was written on the wall. What I see in this photographic essay is what I saw every day in Umtata. I chose a future elsewhere.

chantal.s.valentine May 16, 2024, 04:29 AM

As someone who grew up in Durban, this is heartbreaking. The city managers who took over cared more about renaming streets than doing anything good for the city. The few friends I know who haven’t left the city yet speak of how corruption rules the day now. So sad to see this.

alanboody@gmail.com May 15, 2024, 10:25 PM

OK but the huts are clean.