Newtown was the midwife to Jo’burg’s cultural rebirth, at least in the city. But its supporters will not hear that the cultural precinct has failed

If there is a metaphor for a dead Jo’burg, it is the old gasworks in Cottesloe. Now it is about to be reinvented as one of the city’s go-to places.

Johannesburg, perhaps more than any other city in the country, has a heritage collection that embraces the complete tale of this land. Iron Age and Bushmen artefacts; remnants of…