The Johannesburg suburbs of Yeoville and its neighbor Bellevue were, in times past, popular places to live that were rich in cultural life with restaurants, jazz bars, book stores and more for the residents of the area and city. The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) is working to revive the area with a multi-million rand facelift and stimulus for new building and development. Yeoville has a long history and is full of wonderful stories from the past. Situated on a hill, it was originally marketed as an area for the rich to avoid the smoky air of Johannesburg’s mines. As the city grew, the area became a popular place for artists, musicians and activists. As such, it had a lively nightlife and cultural scene. When apartheid fell, it became one of the first integrated communities in the country.

 

Since then, the area has declined but is now seeing a comeback. Community organizations are working to rebuild the area and drive new investment and capital into the long-popular suburb. The Yeoville Stakeholders Forum (YSF), a combination of interest groups that promotes change, development and quality of life in the Greater Yeoville area is one group that is working to help revitalize the area.

The Yeoville Stakeholders Forum is the successor to the Yeoville Community Development Forum and was launched in November 2005. The Forum has 28 member organizations who meet twice a month. Yeoville’s community faces challenges such as an ineffective access to government, poor service delivery, the historical impact of apartheid on people’s sense of self and their willingness to challenge or demand, and a large immigrant community, which, for reasons of self-preservation, is also reluctant to challenge or demand. 

The Yeoville Stakeholders Forum (YSF): is an umbrella body whose membership comprises a number of CBOs, NGOs and institutions. There are also public representatives and public facilities that have ex-officio status on the YSF. The main aim of the YSF is to ‘build community through communication’ by bringing different organisations together into the same forum and working for coordinated action around key community issues. The YSF currently has 18 full member organisations and 10 associate members.

The YSF is encouraging the formation of sector-based community organizations. They have also established a free knock-and-drop weekly community newspaper, Yeovue News,  for the Greater Yeoville community, which is published mainly in English. The YSF is currently working towards the establishment of a community information centre for the Greater Yeoville community and also aims to make that information available to the community through YSF meetings, the community newspaper, the information office, a website and e-mail.

Current contact details: George Lebone (chairperson) - 079 3894409; Marc Gbaffou (deputy chair) - 083 5147367; Patience Ndlovu (secretary) - 082 4476811; Rethabiseng Thamae (communication) - 079 8478611; Joseph Setloboko (organiser) - 078 7265811


Membership coordinator: Joseph Setloboko
Tel: 0787265811
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

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