Feature

The Moth: Johannesburg’s Hidden World

In the heart of South Africa’s biggest city, over 400 people live “temporarily” (6 years and counting) in desperation and hopelessness—meanwhile, just outside, the world passes them by.

Photographs by Fredrik Lerneryd

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In the heart of Johannesburg, mere minutes away from the city’s central train station, an enigmatic sign looms: “MOTH.”

Although hundreds and thousands of people pass it every single day, most have no awareness of what goes on inside. In fact, it is a rudimentary shelter for over 400 people. One that is cramped, uncomfortable, unsanitary and, supposedly, temporary.

The residents moved in six years ago, thinking they wouldn’t be staying long. They arrived after being evicted from their old apartment blocks (torn down to make room for a gleaming shopping mall). The group was told they would be given a short-term place to live, something that would last for, at most, one year.

Six years later, nothing has happened. The living conditions grow worse, the residents more desperate and yet outside, life goes on…

—LensCulture