Towards the end of our stay in Johannesburg, we took a guided tour (🎟️ 380 ZAR) of the famous Ponte Tower. This 54-storey cylindrical skyscraper has had an extraordinary history, transforming from a symbol of apartheid-era luxury into one of Johannesburg’s most notorious buildings, before undergoing a remarkable revival.
Ponte City was completed in 1976 in the affluent, white-only neighbourhood of Hillbrow and was designed as a high-end luxury apartment complex. Its distinctive cylindrical design features a huge hollow core running through the centre of the building, allowing natural light into the apartments. The original plans were so ambitious that they even included an indoor ski slope at the bottom of the central core.
As the apartheid system began to unravel and many middle-class white residents left the inner city during the 1980s, Ponte City fell into severe decline. The building was gradually taken over by gangs, drug dealers and sex workers, becoming a notorious no-go zone associated with violent crime. Municipal services deteriorated, and the enormous central core eventually became filled with several floors of uncollected rubbish and debris.
Dark stories and legends began to surround the tower, including accounts of suicides, criminal executions and bodies allegedly buried beneath the mountains of rubbish. Whether every story was true, Ponte City became one of the most infamous symbols of Johannesburg’s inner-city decline.
In the 2000s, new owners began the enormous task of cleaning and restoring the building. Criminal elements were removed, and the huge piles of rubbish were cleared, much of it by hand. What once seemed almost impossible has gradually become a reality.
Today, Ponte City is once again a secure and functioning residential building, home to ordinary Johannesburg residents. Standing inside its vast central core and looking up through all 54 floors, it is hard to believe how dramatically this building — and the neighbourhood around it — has changed over the past five decades.
For us, the tour was one of the most fascinating experiences in Johannesburg, offering a unique perspective on both the city’s troubled past and its ongoing transformation.
Parking location – Johannesburg – Edenvale: 26.1427729S 28.1848257E (🚻,🚿,🏊,💦,🔌,🫧,🅿️200 ZAR)