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I have a BA HED (Higher Education Diploma), and a Tesol English 2nd Language Diploma. I have over 22 years’ teaching experience, and over 15 years’ writing experience, as a journalist in Johannesburg. For the past 3 years I have conducted tours of Joburg.

And when I’m not teaching or writing or conducting tours, I'll be taking in the Joburg vibes and events - it may be a book launch, an art exhibition opening, a touch of jazz, a talk on intriguing stuff . . . there's always something happening in this town, where I have lived for the past 36 years.

Come along on the journey with me - let's have fun exploring English and the city!

Testing Jozi transport, no cars allowed

November 3 2012 Jozi, the city made for cars, was on trial last week - could Jozijollers leave their cars behind and use public transport for a day? I was going to find out in the council’s great transport race. Three modes of public transport, three clues and a paper bag of mid-morning snacks. That was what we were given to prove that it was possible to get around smoothly by leaving our cars at home. We met at Park Station at 7am. I joined the director-general of transp

lucilledavie

Jan 9

Jazz meander - new music, new culture, no speeches

May 2013 “It’s bumping there,” says Sifiso Ntuli, the man behind the African Jazz Meander, or AJaZZme. “There” is Soweto, where the meander has wandered to, and where a groovy gig was held in March. Ntuli’s vision is to create a cultural and tourism circuit, with great jazz sounds at its heart. And there’s plenty of talent around – Andile Yenana, Feya Faku, Herbie Tsoaeli, Sydney Mnisi, Hlulani, Marcus Wyatt, and the up and coming The Muffinz, The Brother Moves on, and Ayanda

lucilledavie

Jan 9

Ghosts of the Foster Gang are long gone

December 1, 2012 The cave is empty except for a large pink rubber ball. But as playful as the ball is, this is a place of death. It was the cave in which the notorious Foster Gang ended their lives, together with William Foster's wife, Peggy, in 1914. I had climbed down into the cave entrance nine years ago, but couldn't bring myself to go into the cave, feeling somewhat spooked on my own. Now I was back, with my 20-something son, and equipped with head torches, we were going

lucilledavie

Jan 9

Joburg - it's definitely a love/hate relationship

September 7 2013 Orhan Pamuk in his sumptuous book Istanbul talks of “Huzun”. It means melancholy in Turkish, and he says it characterises the feeling many have towards their city. Having just returned from a visit to this ancient and wonderful city, with its skyline defined by tall minarets and huge domed mosques, I wondered what emotion would characterise Joburgers. I asked a number of people. Their answers suggest a love/hate relationship with the city. First answer was f

lucilledavie

Jan 9

City aims at integrated housing systems for all

July 6 2013 Life on a Sunday afternoon in the Fleurhof housing estate is lazy – people sit outside in the sun, or walk to the shop, or socialise on the pavement outside a shebeen. The city’s housing estates all started with Cosmo City, 40km north-west of the city, back in 2001. It was Joburg’s first experiment with mixed housing, and 5 000 units rose from the veld. Four different types of housing were offered. The traditional RDP or the term used nowadays, breaking new gro

lucilledavie

Jan 9

Subject to change is the only constant in Maboneng

June 1 2013 Subject to change. That could be the logo of Maboneng, and that’s what I like about the precinct. Some things are constant – like converting defunct warehouse buildings into hip places to live and work and chill in. But since its inception, Maboneng has had its antennae carefully tuned into the buzz on the ground. If something didn’t seem quite right or the dynamics have altered slightly, it’s subject to change. Like adjusting to the first couples who moved in

lucilledavie

Jan 7

It was a greedy, hasty act Imperial now regrets

December 7, 2012 A loud gasp involuntarily left my throat as I crossed Barry Hertzog Avenue into Napier Road, back in 2008. In front of me lay mangled sheets of corrugated iron, chunks of concreted bricks, pipes listlessly pointing skywards, and lonely twirls of smoke rising into the air – someone said you could smell the oregon pine from a block away. It resembled a war zone. I pass the 1904 Rand Steam Laundries site in Richmond daily to and from work. I had always found it

lucilledavie

Jan 7

Corridors of freedom plan to restitch the city by 2040

5 August 2013 Too many Joburgers get up really early to get to work and arrive home after dark. Now executive mayor Parks Tau is promising to undo some of apartheid’s spatial planning with his “corridors of freedom”, backed by agri initiatives down south. These corridors will be well-planned transport arteries, with an emphasis on mixed use living, with high density accommodation interspersed with office complexes, shops and leisure and recreation infrastructure. “We are re-s

lucilledavie

Jan 7

Braamies vibrant and blooming

February 1, 2014 Seventy-year-old Parsotam Bhikha set up shop in Braamfontein almost 50 years ago. He has witnessed the suburb’s blooming from a white working class place of semi-detached cottages, sleazy hotels and tiny flats, to a hip and funky high-rise space now. He remembers Braamfontein with a few high rises - the tall building he is in, Heerengracht, had just gone up and he was the first tenant. He had to have a white nominee to rent in the suburb. And a white secretar

lucilledavie

Jan 6