Young Journalists Capture Johannesburg's Everyday Heroes

Four days after an emergency C-section, Jillian Singh was hauling heavy water containers to her Claremont home because her neighborhood hasn't had regular water for a decade. Her story is one of twenty captured by young filmmakers determined to show the real Johannesburg.

Under the banner of Joburg Speaks, twenty aspiring video journalists received training from the Henry Nxumalo Foundation and mentorship from award-winning filmmaker Kofi Zwana. They ventured into their own neighborhoods with cameras and curiosity, hunting for stories the mainstream media often misses.

What they found wasn't the usual narrative of urban decay. Instead, they documented residents who refuse to let their city fail.

In Greenside and Parktown North, communities organized their own security responses to cable theft when City Power and police couldn't keep up. City Power even formalized these grassroots efforts through Community Partnership Programmes, though the films highlight how only wealthier neighborhoods can afford this protection.

In Diepkloof, Sipho Mazomba transformed how his community sees car guards. His nonprofit NKA partners with shopping malls to professionalize the role, converting what many dismiss as begging into dignified work with set hours and standards. Men once written off by society now have stable jobs and a path away from addiction.

The young filmmakers also captured the struggles of e-hailing drivers caught between violent hijackers and restrictive regulations that threaten their livelihoods. These drivers keep Johannesburg's workforce mobile despite facing danger daily.

The Ripple Effect

Zwana said watching these diverse young people document their city reminded him how vital youth voices are in understanding Johannesburg's true character. Each filmmaker brought perspectives shaped by their own lived experiences, creating a tapestry of stories that establishment media couldn't replicate.

The films don't ignore hardship—Singh's water crisis and the security divide in cable theft prevention reveal serious failures. But they center on something more powerful: ordinary people stepping up when systems break down.

These twenty young journalists proved that behind every infrastructure failure lives someone improvising a solution, building community, or simply refusing to give up on their neighbors. That's the Johannesburg worth capturing on film.