Welcome to Joburg
Johannesburg can be a strange place. People say and do things that are significantly different from the rest of South Africa.
A long exposure photograph shows vehicles heading south on the N1 highway through an e-toll gantry, 16 September 2014, near Florida. Picture: Michel Bega
Here’s a list of words and behaviours that Joburg is known for:
- Traffic rules mean nothing here. Red traffic lights are a sign to speed up, and nobody sticks to speed limits.
- Ever heard of “baps”? Probably not. It’s Wits student slang for sex.
- Bigger is better. Johannesburg is huge, but so are its shopping malls, gyms and freeways.
- Be careful of who you ask for directions, because at some taxi ranks people will charge you for directions.
- Taxis in Johannesburg don’t have “taxi assistants” who operate the doors and collect money.
- Izikhothane are usually young men who flaunt their expensive belongings
- Need a cab? Rather ask for a “skopas”.
- Cities aren’t known for their wildlife. A “green mamba” in Johannesburg is a R10 note.
- “Whoonga”, a drug mixture, is known as “nyaope”.
- You could do all of your shopping at a traffic light. People sell anything from cellphone chargers to coat hangers.
- There’s no need to go into town for a mall. They’re everywhere. Even Joburg “locations” have their own malls.
- The only thing more terrifying than the traffic is the summer evening storms. Joburg storms aren’t stingy; you can get hail, thunder, lightning and rain at the same time.
Johannesburg has many unique aspects, perhaps because there are so many different people living here.
Did we miss out any characteristically Jo’burg slang or behaviour? Let us know in the comments section below.
