A jazz club in Johannesburg plays its last songs and laments downtown's decline
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — On a Friday evening in downtown Johannesburg, a world away from the genteel suburbs that include some of Africa's wealthiest neighborhoods, groups of men huddle on a dark street as a security patrol whizzes past.
Around the corner, popular jazz venue the Marabi Club is hosting its last Friday night show before closing down – another victim of the city center's decay and the jarring inequality in post-apartheid South Africa.
'It's devastating. This is such an iconic space in the inner city and now we have one more reason not to come downtown. It's a true sign of the city's decline,' said Renata Lawton-Misra, 34, a climate change consultant, attending the concert with her husband, Kyle Schutte.
For Schutte, the reasons behind the closure are clear. 'Safety concerns,' said the 38-year-old financial consultant who said he wouldn't normally set foot in the area. Downtown is now known for rampant crime and dilapidated infrastructure after an exodus of white people to the suburbs after the apartheid system of racial segregation ended in 1994. 'True or not, perception is the issue.'
The Marabi Club had been part of a wave of investments designed to reinvigorate downtown, in particular the Maboneng district, about a decade ago. It was founded in 2017 by TJ Steyn, son of the late South African insurance magnate Douw Steyn, and Dale De Ruig.
The club attracted visitors including Jay Z and Beyonce.
'Look at what we created here with amazing food and music,' said waiter Emanuel Mcotheli, pointing to the packed room of mainly Black urban professionals.
The club was named after marabi, a jazz movement that emerged in the 1920s, to honor South Africa's rich musical heritage. Back then, miners and day laborers would congregate downtown and were drawn into illegal shebeens (taverns) by the sound of marabi, repetitive and improvisational keyboard tunes.
The genre gained popularity through bands like the Jazz Maniacs and influential artists such as Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba.
'I grew up singing marabi,' said the club's resident vocalist Mbalizethu Siluma, 40, who sings soul and R&B, inviting the snappily dressed guests to dance after dinner.
Despite the attention the club has received, South Africa's strict COVID-19 lockdown severely hit it and other businesses that hoped to reshape parts of downtown Johannesburg. A succession of short-lived mayors, eight in five years, made things worse as essential public works went undone.
The neglect of downtown Johannesburg was exposed to international attention in 2023 when a fire in an overcrowded apartment building left unregulated by authorities killed 76 people.
'We knew it wasn't the perfect place to open a jazz club but we were hopeful that it was on an upward move,' De Ruig told The Associated Press. 'Ultimately, it was a bit of a false start.'
He said the city has provided almost 'almost no support' and basic requests for better lighting, security and cleaning in the area were ignored.
The city's government said it could not comment on the reasons behind a private venue shutting its doors, but spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said it was 'unfortunate for the creative economy.'
For Lusanda Netshitenzhe, a member of the steering committee for the Joburg Crisis Alliance, a coalition working to end corruption and improve city government services, the Marabi Club's closing represents a broader issue.
'People unfortunately don't feel safe getting to Maboneng,' Netshitenzhe said. The area 'once celebrated ... is unfortunately no longer doing well due to continued deep systemic issues, poor urban governance and lack of leadership in the city of Johannesburg."
Mayor Dada Morero said in his State of the City address this month that 'drastic times call for drastic measures' and vowed to intensify efforts to revitalize the inner city, including rehabilitating abandoned buildings and installing public lighting.
Any plans for reviving the area come too late for the club and its musicians.
'Maybe there's something better coming … look at how this place is, Marabi isn't dying,' Siluma said before hitting the stage.
De Ruig and his partner are considering moving the club to Steyn City, a gated commercial and residential estate owned by the Steyn family, 32 kilometers (20 miles) north of Johannesburg's city center.
Downtown is left to those who can't afford to leave.
___
More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
Louise Dewast, The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
2 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
16 Celebrities Who Quit Being Famous
Recently, Reddit user u/fulthrottlejazzhands asked, "Who is a celebrity that gave it all up at the height of fame to go live a 'normal' life?" Here's a look at what these former (and not so former) actors got up to after they left Hollywood: After playing Hilary from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Karyn Parsons co-created her own sitcom, Lush Life, but it was soon canceled. She eventually moved to New York, where she studied filmmaking, met her husband, and started a family. She told Vice, "My interests were changing. It became very difficult to do everything, to memorize lines for a part and have to get someone to last-minute watch the kids — to race across town and do all that, and if you got a call back, do it again. I'd find myself dropping the ball a lot." In 2005, following her acting career, Parsons founded Sweet Blackberry, a nonprofit that teaches kids about the lesser-known aspects of Black history. She said, "When I was pregnant with my daughter, that's when I started really thinking about what are they going to teach her in school, and what am I supposed to teach her? How do I supplement her education as a parent? As I was talking a lot about Black history and stories that you don't hear about, my husband was like, 'You need to do this.'" Suggested by caseyrackham '90s teen heartthrob Jonathan Taylor Thomas left his role on Home Improvement before the series ended, deciding instead to focus on his education at Columbia, Harvard, and St. Andrew's University. Though he returned to acting a few years later, in 2013, he once again disappeared from the public eye. JTT told People, "I'd been going nonstop since I was 8 years old. I wanted to go to school, to travel, and have a bit of a sit in a big library amongst books and students — that was pretty cool. It was a novel experience for me." Suggested by u/painandpets Erik Per Sullivan, who played Dewey on Malcolm in the Middle for seven seasons, left acting for good in 2010. After attending the University of Southern California, he's now a graduate student studying Victorian Literature. Jane Kaczmarek, who played his onscreen mother, recently reflected on the former actor: "He's very, very well. He did Malcolm for seven years. He started at 7; he ended at 14. He wasn't interested in acting at all." Suggest by u/WestCoastWaster Similarly, Malcolm in the Middle and Agent Cody Banks star Frankie Muniz also stepped away from acting, saying, "When I was on Malcolm, I was just so excited to be working on a show, but also in that same sense, when the show ended, I kind of left the business for a little bit. I started doing other things. I was racing cars. I joined a band." However, since taking a break from acting in 2006, Muniz is now set to return to Hollywood for a four-episode reboot of Malcolm in the Middle on Disney+. Suggest by u/enters_and_leaves Good Luck Charlie and Lemonade Mouth actor Bridgit Mendler traded in Hollywood for a Master's degree from MIT and a Doctor of Law degree from Harvard. She now works in the space industry as the CEO of her startup Northwood Space, which aims "to build satellite ground stations that are designed with mass production and customer flexibility first in mind." As she announced on social media, Mendler and her husband are also the parents of a 5-year-old son. She wrote, "Started fostering in 2021, adopted near Christmas of 2022. I'm so lucky—being a parent is the biggest gift and most defining experience there is." Suggested by u/shortstack3000 In 1997, following Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, comedian Rick Moranis stepped away from acting to focus on his two children after his wife, Anna, died from breast cancer. Although he's said it wasn't a "formal decision" to retire, he hasn't been seen on the big screen in several decades. In 2015, Moranis told The Hollywood Reporter, "I took a break, which turned into a longer break. But I'm interested in anything that I would find interesting. I still get the occasional query about a film or television role...I was working with really interesting people, wonderful people [in Hollywood]. I went from that to being at home with a couple of little kids, which is a very different lifestyle. But it was important to me. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. My life is wonderful." Suggested by u/Lostfroggy25 Disney star Kay Panabaker retired from acting in 2012, following roles in Summerland and Cyber Bully. Though she already had a degree in history from UCLA, she decided to go back to school and entered an 18-month animal program at Santa Fe College in Florida. Following that, she was hired as a zookeeper at Disney's Animal Kingdom. In 2016, she responded to a fan who asked her why she quit acting and said, "I just lost the love for acting. Life is short, we spend so much time at work, gotta do what you love :) and I love my job!!" Suggested by caseyrackham If you can believe it, Peter Ostrum, the actor who played Charlie in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, left the entertainment industry and became a dairy veterinarian. According to Ostrum, he stopped acting because "being in the film industry as a child was hard." In 2011, he told Hollywood Chicago, "In the end, leaving was the right decision. ... I don't have any regrets at all." Suggest by u/AardvarkStriking256 Erik von Detten, aka the '90s and '00s Disney star of The Princess Diaries and Brink! fame, eventually left acting behind and went into finance. He said to E! Online, "At that time, we didn't have Netflix and all these expanded options with thousands and thousands of roles. I would literally go for a length of time without any roles that I fit the bill for. I mean, you're either in the very top half a percent doing very well or, just very competitive." He said, "Since I was a kid, I wanted to have a large family. And, in Los Angeles, that requires a consistent, realistic income. So, the fickle nature of employment as an actor just wasn't consistent enough for me." Suggested by u/reader_of_lips Jennifer Stone, who played Harper on Wizards of Waverly Place, left acting behind and is now a registered nurse. In an Instagram post celebrating World Health Day in 2020, Stone announced that she was joining the "front lines" of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. She said, "A very good friend of out to me that today is #worldhealthday. It is also the day I went from a volunteer, then a student nurse, and now an RN resident. I just hope to live up to all of the amazing healthcare providers on the front lines now as I get ready to join them." Suggested by caseyrackham Though he hasn't left the spotlight entirely, Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder officially retired from acting in 2019. Since stepping away, Somerhalder has focused on raising his kids on a farm with wife Nikki Reed, starting companies, and producing documentaries that focus on how "regenerative farming and improving the world's soil can help combat climate change." In a 2024 interview, Somerhalder said, 'I loved what I did for a really long time. I don't miss any of it. I love making films. I just did it for so long. We had an amazing run.' Suggested by u/UnkindnessOfRavens23 Rick Astley of "Never Gonna Give You Up" fame might be back in the spotlight now with new music, but the singer took a hefty 30-year-long break from the music industry when he was only 27. According to ITV, Astley's sudden retirement was prompted by burnout. In a 2023 interview, Astley spoke about his first music stint saying, "I didn't love the world of pop music, to be honest, because what I dreamed it was and what I wanted it to be, it kind of wasn't." Suggested by u/Separate-Passion-949 Entourage's Adrian Grenier, who left California for Texas, revealed that he stepped away from acting to focus on raising his family and connecting with nature. In an interview on Today with Hoda and Jenna, he said, "I was flying high for many years, two decades in Hollywood and growing up in New York, but I live a much more grounded life now. I decided I was going to live closer to nature and to commit to my wife and have a family and have a child, which I'm so excited about.' Though the actor says he isn't completely retired from acting, it would have to be a special project for him to head back to Hollywood. He said, "I'm only really taking roles that are aligned with my dharma and that I can be proud of because I want my kid to watch whatever I do and be proud of his dad." Suggested by u/JordanBelfort0 Phoebe Cates, of Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins fame, left acting in the mid-'90s after marrying fellow actor Kevin Kline. Though she did make a small appearance in a 2001 movie as a favor to Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kline told Playboy magazine that the couple "agreed to alternate so that we're never working at the same time … [but] whenever it's been her slot to work, Phoebe has chosen to stay with the children." In addition to motherhood, Cates also owns and operates the Blue Tree boutique in New York City. Suggested by u/CokBlockinWinger Former child actor Shirley Temple announced her retirement in 1950 at the age of only 22 because she "had enough of pretend." She eventually got married and pursued a political career in Washington, DC, most notably as a US ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. Suggested by caseyrackham In 2000, Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire star Mara Wilson left acting to focus on writing. In 2016, she told NPR, "There wasn't like one big moment where I knew I was done. ... The rejection hurt because it had been just such a prominent part of my life for so long. It had been the thing that defined me. I remember in college, I would sleep through my acting classes — I would self-sabotage — because I was so afraid to let people see me as an actor. ... I was terrified; I was frozen with fear. That's when I started focusing more on writing. Writing I'd always loved." In 2016, Wilson went on to write a book about her life, titled Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame. In 2023, she wrote another book titled Good Girls Don't, which is "a coming-of-age memoir that bravely examines both the friendships Wilson formed as a child actor in Hollywood and the complex family relationships that shaped her." Suggested by u/HappyCuppiccino
Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Today in History: Abraham Lincoln accepts Illinois Republican Party's nomination for Senate
Today is Monday, June 16, the 167th day of 2025. There are 198 days left in the year. Today in history: On June 16, 1858, accepting the Illinois Republican Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln said the issue of slavery in the United States had to be resolved, declaring, 'a house divided against itself cannot stand.' Also on this date: In 1903, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan. In 1963, the world's first female space traveler, Valentina Tereshkova, 26, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union aboard Vostok 6. Tereshkova spent 71 hours in flight, circling the Earth 48 times before returning safely. In 1976, thousands of Black students in Johannesburg's Soweto township demonstrated against the imposition of the Dutch-based Afrikaans language in schools; police opened fire on the students, killing at least 176 and as many as 700. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos signed the instruments of ratification for the Panama Canal treaties during a ceremony in Panama City. In 2015, real estate mogul Donald Trump launched his successful campaign for the presidency of the United States with a speech at Trump Tower in Manhattan. In 2016, Walt Disney Co. opened Shanghai Disneyland, its first theme park in mainland China. In 2022, witnesses testified to the Jan. 6 committee that Donald Trump's closest advisers viewed his last-ditch efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to reject the tally of state electors and overturn the 2020 election as 'nuts,' 'crazy' and even likely to incite riots. Today's Birthdays: Author Joyce Carol Oates is 87. Country singer Billy 'Crash' Craddock is 86. R&B singer Eddie Levert is 83. Boxing Hall of Famer Roberto Durán is 74. Pop singer Gino Vannelli is 73. Actor Laurie Metcalf is 70. Rapper MC Ren is 56. Golfer Phil Mickelson is 55. Actor John Cho is 53. Actor Daniel Brühl is 47. Actor Missy Peregrym is 43. Singer Diana DeGarmo (TV: 'American Idol') is 38. NFL wide receiver Justin Jefferson is 26. Tennis player Bianca Andreescu is 25.
Cosmopolitan
3 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
Rachel Chinouriri interview: The star spills her beauty secrets
Here at The Cosmo Black Beauty Hub, we absolutely do not gatekeep, so when we get a chance to quiz some of our favourite Black women about their go-to beauty products, tips and treatments, we don't hold back – after all, that's how our Little Black Beauty Book Franchise was born. All the tea on our favourite star's life in beauty, served hot. This week, our June/July cover star Rachel Chinouriri spilled all of her beauty secrets and go-tos; from her wash-day routine to her makeup obsession, here's her life in beauty... Black beauty means to me elegance, class, sophistication. I think there is a grandness to Black women. Growing up and seeing Black women, it's like they love to be neat, tidy, well-kept, the finest – all the way to the nails, the hair. I'm a bit more rough around the edges, and I have three older sisters who would see me about to go out and be like, 'No, you're not doing that.' So, I think it's fierce, it's stunning, it's clean, it's chic, and I just love being a Black woman and being in the Black beauty scene. I've had one facial in my life and she put a serum in my skin and blew it with cold air? I glowed for like three days but I was like, 'I don't know if I really needed that.' But she's telling me about all the other facials, and I'm like, 'Give me a skincare routine that will keep me in check until I have to go for the whole microneedling thing. I'll wait it out for a bit.' I don't have recommendations for things like Botox or fillers, because I haven't started that, and I always say that I'm going to try and do my skincare for as long as possible before I hit that point, because I'm not against it. But I do have recommendations for dermatologists – Stratum Clinic in Wimbledon is like *chef's kiss*. They do laser, facials. Larysa is my queen, I love her so much. And then Dr Sharon Belmo, she's my dermatologist and did my PRP for my hair, and she is a queen. The two of them, they fix me up good. Right, so it's quite simple actually, because I got taught that less is more. I also have a keratin treatment in my hair, which helps because it's always getting straightened and stuff. My hairdresser loves Olaplex. I just always detangle with a conditioner, and then shampoo. Which is quite easy with a wider-tooth comb, just make sure you always tease [knots] out very, very gently. And then I use any mask which is highly hydrating, for at least 15 minutes, and then wash it out. And then I'll spray my hair with a leave-in conditioner. Because I have a keratin treatment, in my hair, my blow-dry is super easy, and my hair blow-dries almost completely straight most of the time. So yeah, it's quite easy actually. My hair tends to be pretty much straight as soon as I blow-dry it, and it's very simple, but as long as I detangle with conditioner, I'll be good. Yes, my go-to hairdresser is Selasie, and her Instagram is @phedeliarose. I was pulling out my hair from stress, and she saw me and was like, 'Dear Lord, let me help you.' And we're kind of on this routine together. She taught me a lot about how to actually take care of my hair health because she knows the fast-paced life of things. Can I also shout out Shamara Roper? Selasie is my hairdresser, but I've been working with Shamara since five or six years ago? I think? And the combination of the two – we've always done such experimental pieces and things with my hair, and when my hair fell out, Shamara always took good care of my hair on set and made sure I felt like a princess. So, those are my girlies and I appreciate them very much. Bad haircare experiences… Can I just say myself? Because there was a phase when I was braiding my own hair – I started learning it when I was 13, and by 16 I had a very sparse amount of hair, probably because of my technique. I think in my brain, I'm a very DIY queen, and the first time I got a hairdresser was probably only two years ago. And I'm realising very quickly that I was just doing everything wrong. I was just taking bits and bobs from everyone on YouTube, with all sorts of different hair types. So, yeah. Getting a hairdresser was the best thing, but I was my own worst enemy. Let me get up this list, I actually literally took a picture of it this morning, so let me zoom into this. I can't live without UKLASH – I used to be putting all sorts of things on my lashes and I've tried every lash serum possible, and UKLASH is just my fave. NeoStrata is my favourite skincare brand – the retinol is amazing, I use the vitamin C [NeoStrata Enlighten 15% Vitamin C + PHA Serum, £62.40] from there which is amazing. [I love this] serum, called SkinBetter Alto Defense Serum, £168. I don't really know what that does, but ever since I started using it, I've had glass skin, so kind of excited about that. And then my dermatologist said, 'Always use vitamin C. Always. And a good one.' And I use Revision's vitamin C, which is really good. Then, I have the NeoStrata Skin Active Firming Tri-Therapy Lifting Serum, £88 – that is a game-changer. I don't know if it tightens? But that's a game-changer for me, for my skincare. NeoStrata Skin Active Intense Eye Therapy, £62 I use underneath my eyes. Then, La Roche-Posay – I use them for moisturiser, then I use the NeoStrata suncream. Then, in the evening, I've got a retinol eye cream and the Laneige Bouncy and Firm Sleeping Mask, £32, which is just my fave. I'm quite a simple girly. I don't do skin brushing, but I have a pair of gloves. I can't shower without the exfoliating gloves – if I wash without the exfoliating gloves, I feel like I've not showered, so I love those. And day to day, I love a vocal steam. I think my bodycare is quite limited, but you know – exfoliating gloves, and Lush Happy Hippy, £6 is my favourite body wash. My facial skincare. My facial skincare is catastrophically expensive, and it hurts me to say, but I was like, 'Let me invest.' So, I'll use the tiniest bits so it actually lasts me a long time. But my skin – and especially for the job I'm in – my skin looks pretty good, if you ask me. I'm gonna say UKLASH, but beauty obsession… It could kind of be anything, couldn't it? There is a blush from Sleek and it breaks my heart, I don't know if they still sell it, but I hope they do. Okay, can this be a campaign for them to bring it back? It breaks my heart. It does not matter what skin complexion you are, everyone is using this colour right in the middle, Sleek, please – if you have any in the warehouse, anything, I'm begging you, just I will buy all of it – nothing quite hits the same. And it's just, yeah. This is the perfect time to say this because me and my housemate – who is also my makeup artist – have been going crazy trying to re-find this. It's even broken in half, we're devastated. So yeah, Sleek – that would be my one thing. To be honest, no. I've had mishaps before I really started getting into the industry, then I met Georgia Hope, who is my makeup artist and my housemate. And now we've hit a point where I kind of don't trust anyone else to touch my face, and she's always got me looking prim and proper – exactly how I want. She's always like, 'Ooh, should we try this?' and I'm like, 'No!', and she's like, 'Okay!' – bringing me ideas and I'm always like, 'Nope, I don't want this!' But I think she'd be the only person who could convince me to try anything, because yeah, I'm very stubborn with makeup. She's never had me looking rough, so that's my glam girlies. Mwah! Love you! It's a strong team! My makeup bag would not be the same without a brown lip liner. I can have almost no makeup, and if I have the lip liner, it just makes a difference. So, that's my one thing I have to have. My favourite? I'm going to say MAC Chestnut Lip Pencil. Keeks Reid is the Beauty Director at Cosmopolitan UK. While she loves all things beauty, Keeks is a hair fanatic through and through. She started her career in beauty journalism in 2013 as editorial assistant at Blackhair and Hair magazines working her way to Acting Editor of Blackhair magazine at 23 years old. She spent much of her career working in trade hairdressing media at Hairdressers Journal, Salon International and the British Hairdressing Awards. Which is why she is a regular contributor to Cosmo's Curl Up franchise. Now, alongside her Cosmo work, she presents, creates content on social media and works with a range of beauty companies; from magazines and websites to beauty brands and salons.
