Johannesburg. Jozi. Jo'burg. Goldreef to Berea.

[@Ntokozo-Ka]

The potential's still there! With enough will, it can become the best version yet

[@paulsvid]

Wow thanks for the memories and the good old days of listening to Radio 5 and 702 in the 80's

[@Johntheheroman]

5 was pretty much the only real good station back then imo

[@antaxe1234]

I remember driving around this area. I was in my final year at Johannesburg College of Education and my then girlfriend (now my wife!) was at the nurse's residence at the Jo'burg Gen. That is the Top Star Drive-in at the start of the video. Such memories. And Radio 5! Nothing like it today! Thanks for uploading!

[@justingoliath9168]

If only things stayed the same... watching this makes me wish I could go back. Thanks for sharing

[@Maria63756]

Yes you right

[@marianoblas3608]

I always love old videos like this because I enjoy seeing what the inner city used to look like but MAN, that Debbie Harry version of Denis was everything! I came for Gold but I found a Treasure!

[@Johntheheroman]

Glad you enjoyed it. I like Debbie's version as well as the older one.

[@marianoblas3608]

@@Johntheheroman it is a strange and amazing coincidence. I only came to South Africa in 2008 being a huge Blondie fan. This video must be around some 20 years before that time? Maybe a bit more?

[@sambanelly4219]

Yoh yoh yoh Hillbrow used to be THIS clean?🤣🤣😂😂 I was born in 1999 so this looks surreal to me. Fellow South Africans we can get it back to this position by voting out ANC.

[@rbdriftin]

Thank you for uploading this. Those roads and sights give me so much nostalgia.

[@valeriedefreitas664]

Thank you. Down memory lane

[@simphiwekhoza9968]

SAD to see that a lot has changed for the worse.... thanks for the video

[@SoundsLikeOdie]

Thanks for sharing. I studied at wits technikon Doorenfontein a few years after you made your film. You drove past it. I also had a 1989 corolla. I now live in the northern suburbs overlooking the cbd skyline. With the exception of the Municipal, SOE and hillbrow buildingd. The buildings now form dark silhouettes on the horizon at night.

[@Johntheheroman]

I'm sure a lot has changed. Thank you for the comment Orlando.

[@Johntheheroman]

Thanks 18millwall. Actually it was filmed early evening, you can see it is getting darker towards the end. Black people were allowed to live in the area at the time although some places made it difficult for them.

[@YellowSquidsBootyAttack]

As an outsider before I knew much about Africa I would think that’s it’s impressive that they built all this in Africa

[@alexsaffamerica]

What a crazy different world back then! The streets were clean and the cars were nicer. While they were boxy compacts, they are much better than the crappy budget cars and taxis you see nowadays. Also, people appear to have driven better and followed road rules.

[@Maria63756]

I also remember driving there with my parents

[@pamelastones4802]

Memories... ❤

[@accuracyboy78]

Mindblowing...

[@TheJoStephan]

Crisis. Hearing that Barney Simon intro jingle! He literally still uses it to this day 😂

[@Johntheheroman]

Wow, at least 33 years with the same jingle! Someone get him a new one.

[@Maria63756]

We also had a Toyota Corolla 1.3

[@amberbos5685]

Loved this, thank you!

[@Johntheheroman]

Glad you enjoyed it. Times change eh!

[@Johntheheroman]

My plesier en dankie dat jy meneer. Sorry for my poor Africaans. I am sure it was a very different place in 76. Thank you again for you kind comment.

[@connellbrian]

if anyone is keeping track it appears that it's the route is M2 E -> Joe Slovo Rd N -> Abel Rd W -> Tudhope Rd N

[@Johntheheroman]

Near enough! Ends in Joel Rd

[@Johntheheroman]

Thank you for your comment. I am pleased it was a positive memory for you too. My girlfriend at the time was also a nurse! but not at the Gen hospital.

[@argopunk]

Interesting stuff. I'm in Toronto. I have no connection to S.A. except for the many ex-pat S.A. folks I've met who've moved here over the past 40-odd years. But lately, I've been YouTubing videos like these and comparing to new videos of the same streets and Google Map street view. I Googled The Statesman apartments on Joel Road. That area looks like it may have its challenges.

[@richardking6066]

Some very poignant. memories... I lived in the Golden Crest Hotel in Abel Rd when I first went to Joburg in 1980 - what a dump! But far worse now, no doubt. Later I moved to Trinity Hall in Berea, overlooking Bez Valley and close to the funny-looking old water tower. Bitter-sweet memories...

[@Johntheheroman]

I was living in Abel Road in 1988. I dont remember the Golden Crest though. I was in the Stateman. Maybe my tired old memory, I probably walked passed it loads of times on my way to the Park Lane hotel where I took my evening drinkie :)

[@alainbauristhene6427]

At least back then the roads weren't riddled with rubbish and taxi's

[@Johntheheroman]

So true. It's horrible now. So glad I no longer live in Berea.

[@Helgardt6189]

‘n Pragtige skoon stad wat eens op ‘n tyd deur witmense bestuur was,wat geweet het hoe om ‘n land te regeer.Kyk hoe skoon lyk alles.Wat sê dit vir jou ?

[@Johntheheroman]

It was cleaner, a lot cleaner. Glad I no longer live there but I enjoyed the time I live in the area.

[@etnarongiselva8361]

Well... Was it wasted time? It depends. The old regime had its flaws and it had its good points. Institutional organization, full employment, excellent schools, prospects for financial growth for everyone, a consumer society, for everyone too... even if not equally, but much, much better than any other country on that continent... to the point that migrations came from the communist ''paradises'' of Zimbabwe, Moçambique to try their luck in the land of the ''segregationists'', well, it was not for nothing, something worked and well. Finally, however, there was a downside... That was so fundamental, that it left that regime unsustainable... pointing out 2 things... the attack on the individual liberties of blacks, such as the right to free property and also being able to negotiate their land/vehicles/real estate outside the banstustans... it was a example of this... another was the police state, which was necessary due to numerous laws and regulations to guarantee separation... this proved to be not only unfair, of course, but also very expensive and wasteful over time... and yes, it negatively impacted economic development national... (yes, the end of the gold standard in 1971, and oil crisis by opec in 1973 were instrumental in this). In the end, the lesson is that certainly, the ANC does not represent the answer to overcome the mistakes of the NP and its apartheid... South Africa deserves to be better and decently conducted... on the steering wheel.

[@ringogerard1853]

Driving down memory lane 🥰. Abel Road, Joel Road ... look what the area looks like today .. hulle het Berea nou heeltemal opgefok 😒

[@3506Dodge]

It looks like an American city.

[@prano550]

now it is nigerian country what a shame