A Protest at the Johannesburg City Library
The Johannesburg City Library, a beautiful, historic, and essential building in downtown Joburg, has been mysteriously closed for the past three years.
I don’t want to go into the whole story of why the library, which underwent a glorious renovation just a little over a decade ago, has been closed for such an inordinately long time – theoretically for repairs. There are lots of other stories you can read about that, and anyway if you live in Joburg you already know the answer. The city is experiencing a complete breakdown of infrastructure and public services, and our political leaders seem unwilling or unable to do anything about it.
But all details aside, the bottom line is that the City Library – which houses about 1.5 million books and provided a place to study and access the internet for thousands of students, including many underprivileged students – doesn’t need to be closed. Even with the ongoing repairs, independent inspections have shown it would not be dangerous for the public to access the building while these repairs take place.
In response to this maddening situation, a group of activists and concerned citizens gathered in front of the library this past Saturday to demand that the building be immediately re-opened to the people of Joburg.
About the Johannesburg City Library Protest
The protest was organized by the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation and the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance, which is affiliated with the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation. Several writers and activists made short speeches on the steps of the “Democracy is Dialogue” statue, and then protestors from OUTA led a brief march (with the characteristic toyi-toyi that South African protestors do best) up to the street and back.
My favorite thing about the protest (besides the singing and dancing) was the diversity; there were South Africans there from all ages, races, and backgrounds. Whatever their differences might be outside of this protest, it felt like everyone was working together in that moment to get their voices heard on this single, important issue.
Incidentally, the City of Joburg put out a media release yesterday (two days after the protest) announcing that budget has been allocated for the library repairs, and this allocation “is expected to pave the way for the partial reopening of the [Joburg City Library] in the next financial year.” It’s great that the City responded, but this language seems intentionally vague and also not enough: The point is to get the library re-opened NOW.
The Johannesburg Heritage Foundation created an online petition to re-open the library; view and sign the petition here. Also (if you’re a South African citizen, which I am not), please vote in South Africa’s national and provincial elections on May 29th.
Viva, Johannesburg City Library. Viva!
Comments
I heard and read that the library got flooded with water due to some bad leakage problems :-(
I’m not sure…Maybe that had water leakage issues at some point in the past but I don’t think that’s the issue now. The JHF did a tour of the library not too long ago and apparently everything inside looks pretty good and there’s no major damage or threat to safety.
During my last visit I was in a shock to see all books; computers; furniture in error and not being looked after. This was not a library but it was a mess. Nobody feeling responsible to do the work, look after books and just keep things proper. I tried to speak to the manager but the person that came forward was not interested at all. This Government is not interested to keep this wonderful place; all these books and computers alive.
I signed the petition. This is a travesty. It looks like a wonderful and well attended protest (great signs too!)
I also enjoyed the signs!
That’s so sad and maddening. Libraries are crucial equalizers and safe places. Someone on social media posted recently about how fortunate we are that the public libraries in the U.S. were created centuries ago. Can you imagine Republicans funding them now?!
Indeed. Now we just have to figure out how to prevent all the books in the libraries being banned (and the librarians being fired).
Thank you Heather for attending the protest and for capturing the event in your unique way. As I said when we sat down to chat in Brixton, you see (often with your camera) our beautiful and complicated country with an even balance and fresh appreciation. As South African we carry so much baggage that divides us, but in this protest we came together to send a clear unified message to our government. The Heritage Foundation and all of us in the Joburg Crisis Alliance are determined to fight on until the doors reopen to the public. This blog post is exactly what I hoped for when we met. Thank You. My next vision is of you capturing the handover of donated books to the Head Librarian and the flow of people in an open Joburg City Library. Yes, the City has responded with more of what we have heard before, so we wont be appeased or sidetracked. The Struggle Continues!
Thanks for all of your amazing work, Yunus!
I’m surprised you wrote about, Heather, because you seem very careful in not getting involved with S. Af politics, which I TOTALLY understand. Is this something we can expect more of from you? I’d be keen since so many of us are facing these kinds of govt struggles around the world.
Hey Lani, I think I felt compelled to write about the library closure since I’ve blogged about the library before and feel especially connected to the issue. I do try to shy away from politics, mainly because politics here (as everywhere) are so damn complicated and I’ll never feel educated enough to comment intelligently. But to me this is more of a human issue than a political one, and perhaps a little simpler. Kids need the library and it needs to be opened!
I'll be offline from 15-19 May. Post on that will follow. I'll approve your comment when I'm back.