After a year of business rescue efforts, property developer Propertuity liquidated and sold off its buildings,
Those holdings were part of a redevelopment from Jeppe Hostel, through New Doornfontein to the edge of Hillbrow.
The area pioneered a process whose ripples are increasingly seen in dispossession and clearances across Johannesburg s inner city.
Back in the early 2010s, Blk Jks guitarist Mpumelelo Mcata was drinking coffee at a pavement cafe in the newly gentrifying inner-city area of Maboneng when two Zulu-speaking workers walked past. One hadn’t seen the new development and its hipster denizens before and was disturbed. But his friend reassured him: “Don’t worry, mfana, it’s just a movie set. They’ll take it all down again soon.”
The story of BLK JKS (pronounced Black Jacks) reads like a real life rock’n’roll legend. For a couple of years around the end of the 00’s, the enigmatic South African rock quartet was ascendant. “Discovered” by Diplo, they went on to befriend everyone from The Mars Volta to TV On The Radio. They played double bills with Squarepusher at South Bank (UK) and Femi Kuti at Irving Plaza (NYC). They recorded an EP named Mystery at Jimi Hendrix’s iconic Electric Lady Studios. This and a Fader Magazine cover feature led to the band signing with Secretly Canadian in 2009.