MEMORANDUM: “City Johannesburg”
City Johannesburg by Mongane Wally Serote
1 This way I salute you:
My hand pulses to my back trouser pocket
Or into my inner jacket pocket
For my pass, my life,
5 Jo’burg City.
My hand like a starved snake rears my pockets
For my thin, ever lean wallet,
While my stomach groans a friendly smile to hunger,
Jo’burg City.
10 My stomach also devours coppers and papers
Don’t you know?
Jo’burg City, I salute you;
When I run out, or roar in a bus to you,
I leave behind me, my love,
15 My comic houses and people, my dongas and my ever whirling dust,
My death
That’s so related to me as a wink to the eye.
Jo’burg City
I travel on your black and white roboted roads
20 Through your thick iron breath that you inhale
At six in the morning and exhale from five noon.
Jo’burg City
That is the time that I come to you,
When your neon flowers flaunt from your electrical wind,
25 That is the time when I leave you,
When your neon flowers flaunt their way through the falling darkness
On your cement trees.
And as I go back, to my love,
My dongas, my dust, my people, my death,
30 Where death lurks in the dark like a blade in the flesh,
I can feel your roots, anchoring your might, my feebleness
In my flesh, in my mind, in my blood,
And everything about you says it, That, that is all you need of me.
Jo’burg City, Johannesburg,
35 Listen when I tell you,
, Questions
1 What important information does the title convey?
The title tells us that the poem is about a specific place and setting, namely
the city of Johannesburg. [1]
2 What kind of place or setting is this?
It is a demanding, harsh and alienating urban environment. [1]
3 Find two examples of words or phrases that describe the setting.
“I can feel your roots, anchoring your might” (line 31)
“Jo’burg City, you are dry like death…” (line 39) [2]
4.1 Who is speaking in the poem?
The speaker is an African who travels to work in the city. (1)
4.2 What single word immediately alerts us to the presence of a speaker
in the poem?
The word “I”in the first line immediately suggests the presence of a first-
person speaker. (1) [2]
5 Who or what is being addressed? How do you know?
The speaker addresses Johannesburg directly. We know this because of the
first words of the poem, “This way I salute you…”. [2]
6 In line 4, there is a clue to the setting in time. What does the word “pass” refer to here?
And how does this help us identify the historical setting of the poem?
The “pass” is the identity document all Africans had to carry with them under
apartheid legislation. The pass showed whether someone had permission to work in
the city. The mention of a pass tells us this poem is set in the apartheid era. [2]
7.1 In line 1, the speaker describes a “salute”. Who would you salute, and why?
Usually one would salute someone in authority, such as an officer in the army
or the police. It is meant to show respect for authority. (2)
7.2 How is this salute different to a conventional salute?The “salute” in the poem is
different, in that it takes the form of a frantic search for the speaker’s pass.
This indicates the speaker’s anxiety and fear when in Johannesburg. (2) [4]
