What Johannesburg's guides can teach us about curiosity, action, and understanding in a city too easily dismissed as broken.

An October 2025 Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article on Johannesburg titled "Welcome to Johannesburg. This Is What It Looks Like When a City Gives Up" has rankled more than a few Joburger feathers. Comments on the article's Instagram suggest the one-sided point of view amounts to a smear campaign or propaganda.

For what purpose, none of us can be sure, but with the looming G20 summit, there are certainly many eyes on this "world-class African city". Anyone living here can attest to the steady decline in infrastructure since 2010, but to say the city has given up reveals a lack of understanding of the people who live here.

In a city as sprawling and diverse as Johannesburg, asking residents how they feel about it will yield vastly different answers. Before you ask anyone what they think of Johannesburg, first ask where they live. Someone in Fourways or Midrand will have a different understanding of the city than someone in Parkview or Parkhurst, likewise residents of the inner city, Sandton, or Alex. The WSJ article went as far as quoting an ex-Joburger, now living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Johannesburg's diversity of neighbourhoods gives the city its electric character. Drive just...