Abstract
Greater Johannesburg's hostels accomodate some 50 000 African migrants in buildings which are prominent features of the residential landscape. Hostelling was conceived and implemented by the infant town council in 1912 partly to end slum dwelling. Subsequently two main phases of construction followed promulgation of parliamentary acts and involved placing more hostels in African townships than in ‘white’ areas. The bleak and regimented world of the hostel speaks to a practice of providing migrants with the bare minimum shelter and amenities which will avoid disruption of migrancy. The socially unnatural and sometimes violent life in hostels tells of the conditions which migrants will endure so as to secure a precious toehold in the metropolitan economy.
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Pirie, G.H., da Silva, M. Hostels for African migrants in greater Johannesburg. GeoJournal 12, 173–180 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00216665
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00216665