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The apartheid divide

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Kya Sands in Johannesburg is a story of broken promises. One street separates an informal settlement from the middle class suburb of Bloubosrand. Picture: Johnny  Miller
Kya Sands in Johannesburg is a story of broken promises. One street separates an informal settlement from the middle class suburb of Bloubosrand. Picture: Johnny Miller

Using his Inspire 1 drone to capture images of the inequality still entrenched in SA – 22 years after the end of apartheid – photographer Johnny Miller has astounded the world with his Unequal Scenes exhibition, currently running at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg.

His photos document the stark differences between rich and poor areas, highlighting the extreme inequality that defines our country’s spatial development and the transformation needed to heal the fragmentation left by apartheid.

Kya Sands in Johannesburg is a story of broken promises. One street separates an informal settlement from the middle class suburb of Bloubosrand

Papwa Sewgolum Golf Course in KwaZulu-Natal is located along the lush green slopes of Durban’s Umgeni River.

Almost unbelievably, a sprawling informal ­settlement exists just metres from the tee for hole 6.

A low concrete fence separates the tin shacks from the carefully manicured fairways

The Cape township of Masiphumelele is separated by a stretch of wetland and an electric fence from the scenic neighbouring suburb of Lake Michelle.

Masiphumelele is densely populated and worlds removed from the lifestyle of its neighbours. ‘I wanted people to see that divide from a new perspective,’ says Miller

Alexandra township, nestled between Wynberg’s industrial area and affluent Sandton, brings into sharp focus the economic contrasts that form part of apartheid’s legacy

Alexandra and Casey Park are so close yet so far apart in terms of their extreme disparities of living standards and opportunities

Cape Town’s picturesque Hout Bay, with its wealthy housing estates, hotels and small farms, lies side by side with Imizamo Yethu township, an informal settlement comprising small shack dwellings.

It illustrates the town planning used by the apartheid regime, involving buffer zones that to this day keep race groups separate









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