🇿🇦What happened to the Johannesburg Sun&Towers Hotel? - Complete Story -✔

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ธ.ค. 2024

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  • @LivinginSAtv
    @LivinginSAtv  4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Thanks for watching! What are your thoughts on this video?
    Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/livinginsatv/
    If you like our work help us by contributing to our Patreon and Paypal:
    www.patreon.com/livinginsatv
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    • @charliecharlton9782
      @charliecharlton9782 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Spent a honeymoon there at The Towers in 1986. Sad to see what became of it.

    • @margaretrobinson5684
      @margaretrobinson5684 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It is heartbreaking to see this building stands vacant. I worked for the company who were responsible for implementing the computer system. Spent about 5 months training staff before the grand opening. It was an incredible hotel, what Southern Sun offered guests was innovative and extremely exciting. I was so proud to be so involved in this flagship. Like the Carlton i have some wonderful memories, of my stays and eating in the restaurants. So very sad...

  • @TheSfSunflower
    @TheSfSunflower 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    OMG! I worked at this hotel back in 1990. I was telling a friend about Archi, the Greek who spoke many languages. An then, there he is at the end of the video! You put a smile on my face, thank you!

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Thanks Sandro. Archie is still very active. He still works at the Michael Angelo in Sandton. I spoke to him and showed him this video. Thanks for your comment.

  • @thinusjacobsz840
    @thinusjacobsz840 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Wow. That was so well-researched

  • @Haibo9000
    @Haibo9000 4 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    This is an awesome video. The CBD has so much potential and hopefully one day it'll be restored to it's former glory

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Thanks for your comment. You right! Still has a lot of potential. Lots of projects are happening at the moment. I will speak about all of them when the time comes.

    • @shisuiuchiha480
      @shisuiuchiha480 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      It is our duty!💯 I am prepared to pick up JHB from its knees. Trust me in a few years to come (1-3 from now) we will clean up the CBD. A new wave is coming. And I will be part of the movement. South Africa’s economy is reliant on JHB, and until the CBD is clean and thriving economically then South Africa’s economy will continue to suffer. We have to change the current situation. It will take unpopular action but it has to be done.💯

    • @charliecharlton9782
      @charliecharlton9782 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@shisuiuchiha480 not going to happen under the ANC

    • @shisuiuchiha480
      @shisuiuchiha480 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@charliecharlton9782 then vote ActionSA in the upcoming elections

  • @CHrisG-ol3ei
    @CHrisG-ol3ei 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    So everyone is saying what happened ? Well 1994 happened and Johannesburg quickly turned into a slum , yes welcome to South Africa !

  • @3mfreale
    @3mfreale 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    You are doing such important work chronicling the history of Joburg in a video format. To last for years to come! Thank you for teaching me so much too.

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Hi Alex. It is only a pleasure. I am learning a lot myself. I had a lot of questions that is why I started to do these videos to satisfy my curiosity. I am a firm believer that knowledge must be shared to create a better understanding of the world around us.

  • @studio118
    @studio118 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I used to work in standard bank across the street small street I was pregnant and used to go there in March April 1989.. every day lunch time to go eat in that restaurant.. There was a church running also inside the hotel.. Bring back all memories... I loved that hotel... Thank you for the video

  • @TshepoNkadimeng5
    @TshepoNkadimeng5 4 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    I feel depressed I hope one day these Iconic buildings can be repurposed and used again such infrastructure cant be left like this to waste!

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Tshepo thank you so much for your comment. The only way to bring these buildings back to life is by informing everyone about their old glory.

    • @leonardolupini3484
      @leonardolupini3484 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Nope. Destroyed forever....

    • @colinarcher2817
      @colinarcher2817 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      You have more chance winning the lottery without a ticket

    • @etiennerossouw6957
      @etiennerossouw6957 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Perhaps stop voting ANC & the rot will be restored simple really.

    • @phumzilexolo17
      @phumzilexolo17 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@leonardolupini3484 anything destroyed can be restored....look at Europe after ww2 , Singapore, Dubai just because it's in Africa doesn't mean it cant be done Ethiopia and Egypt are building entirely new Cities. Kenya is building new cities anything destroyed can be repaired.

  • @stanleysmookler5553
    @stanleysmookler5553 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    This Hotel NEVER replaced the Majestic Carlton..... It was like a Wimpy Bar compared to The Carlton.....VERY good presentation besides the Carlton mention

  • @lehlohonolomogadime6161
    @lehlohonolomogadime6161 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Fantastic video

  • @phindokuhlem5113
    @phindokuhlem5113 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Thank you so much for making this video, I often go for city walks in CBD when I have the chance and every time I would pass this building I would get so fascinated by it and although I’ve researched on it multiple times, your video was highly informative.From what I know the building is still in tact and is currently occupied by a security company at the moment which to me is a clear indication that this building definitely has a future!

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Great comment. Thank you. May you tell me which is the security company on site? 😃

    • @Ntokozo-Ka
      @Ntokozo-Ka 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Good to see a fellow lover of the jhb cbd history Phindokuhle! How are things now there by the cbd? I moved out from there a few *months after covid hit, and also used to take walks around. I hope you keep safe.

    • @Ntokozo-Ka
      @Ntokozo-Ka 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @LivinginSAtv please keep adding more content, I'm loving your channel! Thank you so much for the history of these iconic places. So many of us rarely stop and appreciate what has been built, and the effort it took to make it.
      Channels such as yours, make some of us love these cities even more and become change agents that want to see them thrive yet again. Please continue, you have our support. These will be invaluable to many more generations to come!

  • @Doug6412
    @Doug6412 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I worked in the black and white tower opposite. I will never forget the gun battles in 93 and 94 between anc and Inkatha. Watching armed men with ak47s running through the streets using the trees around the hotel as cover. Also the gun battle that resulted in the tower being raked with bullet holes

  • @zanellatutu6735
    @zanellatutu6735 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    For those of us who resided in Johannesburg and patronised the citys hotels and restaurants the Sun hotel was only 2nd rate to the prestigious and most luxurious Carlton Hotel

  • @endeavourist5287
    @endeavourist5287 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Given the size of the complex it would have been interesting to see if they could have accommodated budget, tourist, and luxury hotel accommodations split up into different areas, with separate entrances to attract multiple consumer markets instead of relying on just one. I'm sure their simulations looked into this, but hopefully one day the Sun & Towers will be salvaged and repurposed in some form.

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I wish I could reply you regarding this. I am still trying to find out how to explore the building.😂

  • @jamienaidoo8381
    @jamienaidoo8381 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My dad and brother worked late 80s to early 90s there is pics of them in this hotel. So sad to see the end of this hotel.

  • @winstonheath3569
    @winstonheath3569 4 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    LOL. "Population demographics".
    Another way of saying mass illegal immigration from north of the border. Especially in Hillbrow.

    • @sidalumuzindlovu9338
      @sidalumuzindlovu9338 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Mass Illegal immigration started from the north started in early 2000s not 80s or 90s the economy was still good there. Apartheid ended mid 90s black people moved in the city then white people and their business es ran away to the suburbs

    • @winstonheath3569
      @winstonheath3569 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@sidalumuzindlovu9338 You know little. By the 80s there were an estimated 1 million illegal immigrants from independent African states in Apartheid South Africa.
      Several million flooded in 93/94 with the demise of Apartheid.
      And I don't know in what dreamworld you believe that African economies were doing well in the 90s.

  • @ringogerard1853
    @ringogerard1853 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Very interesting ! Did'nt know many of these facts before ! I remember those stretched vehicles at JanSmuts airport in the 80's picking up guests at the terminal (BMW or Mercedes Benz, can't remember the make anymore) not sure they belonged to the Sun Hotel anyway.

  • @etiennerossouw6957
    @etiennerossouw6957 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Then The cancerous ANC took over & now & now it's mothballed like most of Joburgs buildings.

    • @felixyoghurt3291
      @felixyoghurt3291 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      And they ate the golden goose to swell their waistlines.

  • @kevinwild999
    @kevinwild999 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    It appears that the underground parking is still in use, looking at the Google images in the video and on my own, with an entrance in Pritchard Street and an exit in Von Weiligh. Is this correct?

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yes it works as an underground parking, but the rest is not accessible. They closed off everything.

  • @allengardenroutelife8787
    @allengardenroutelife8787 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Johannesburg CBD pity, rich people leave it, too much crime.

  • @blahdiblah2169
    @blahdiblah2169 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Hi David,
    Do you know if anyone has done some urban exploring through these buildings in their current state?
    Are they being used by homeless people?
    I just find it surreal that they look so well preserved from the outside.
    I remember when I was about 6 years old being taken here by my parents. We didn't go inside, only walked passed roughly just after the construction was complete but it wasn't open yet.
    It's really a crying shame that it turned out to be a failure.

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Hi. Thanks for your comment. That is a subject I will do a video on it. Building by building, but dont worry they are not hijacked. They are just "abandoned" and well locked. Only with special permissions you will go in. I dont see them as a failure I see them having huge potential for the inner city's present and future. Check my latest video to see what I mean. Old is gold.

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@FC3Concepts thanks for your comment. I want to do a part 2 on this building but I need to find a way to go inside to document the place properly. I do have photos of the inside from 3 months ago and it is correct looks like a time capsule and untouched almost inside. I will reveal everything when the time comes.

    • @AndriesduPlessis
      @AndriesduPlessis 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Not safe at all to travel into jhb cbd these days. Did you notice David uses Google maps for his images. Last year I ended up near Fox street and drove past Carlton. Its sad. I was happy to get to Rosebank without my windows being smashed and I being robbed. Jhb cbd looks like something out of a deteriorated unkept true African city.

    • @blahdiblah2169
      @blahdiblah2169 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@AndriesduPlessis Even way back when I was living in SA and that's around 15 years ago, it wasn't safe. You could still drive through there though. I guess these days it resembles something like the Cape Flats?

  • @MrFlava1982
    @MrFlava1982 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    haha,they even had a stock markets ticker machine that told u stock prices like a telegram,thought they had teletext in the 80's. Neverless a real luxury 80's joint that is up there with the Nakatomi towers as one of the 80's most luxurious, coolest highrises!

  • @AveenB
    @AveenB 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Future Sandton Sun Towers? Hope not. Nice video and please share the current state of these buildings...

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Still the same status as per the video, nothing changed as far as I know.

    • @LeRoux2451
      @LeRoux2451 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Current status of the building is depressing.

  • @operatormook1623
    @operatormook1623 ปีที่แล้ว

    Can someone explain to me the reason the big glass skyscraper thing has such a small base
    How does it still stay up while mothballed and ready to be used?

  • @E-D-E2704
    @E-D-E2704 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Judge bar used to have a guest singer in every week . None that was famous. Used to drink in there . Walking out of judges bar you went into the foyer/lounge where some half dead old dude used to play songs on the piano . Good old days

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Thanks for sharing your memories.

  • @benediktmorak4409
    @benediktmorak4409 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Since i was working as a Chef for the CARLTON,not much therefore that i know of the hotel...

  • @moonwillow9able
    @moonwillow9able 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My brother Tony

  • @robintaylor3291
    @robintaylor3291 ปีที่แล้ว

    Who Knows about the GemHeist in 1986 December At JHB Sun Towers

  • @Not_sheeple
    @Not_sheeple 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    What happened......."they" moved in!

  • @katlegolebelo1239
    @katlegolebelo1239 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Hey man can you do a video for hijacked buildings i want to buy them and revamp and turn them to apartments

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Hi Katlego. Thanks for your comment. There 84 buildings in joburg CBD, who need to be refurbished or revamped, please be more specific.

    • @leonardolupini3484
      @leonardolupini3484 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It's probably many more. Johannesburg is a ruined city. Never invest there.

  • @motosashi6971
    @motosashi6971 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Damn you ANC for destroying this once beautiful city that could of been today The Most Beautiful City in ALL OF Africa

    • @operatormook1623
      @operatormook1623 ปีที่แล้ว

      Shut up at least people have houses im sure you are an apartheid sympathizer

    • @ronjared2204
      @ronjared2204 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Let's be fair. It's not just the ANC but half the problem was building of massive shopping malls. This is what caused CBD decay in many cities all over the world, even wealthy countries.

  • @operatormook1623
    @operatormook1623 ปีที่แล้ว

    The murder inside that caused it to close was not so 6 star

  • @stormeharris4924
    @stormeharris4924 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Cool Story Bru is stealing all your content 😂😂😂

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  8 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      The inspiration needs to come from somewhere.

    • @stormeharris4924
      @stormeharris4924 8 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@LivinginSAtv professionally said... I respect that 😎🙏🏻

  • @Chillednfunked
    @Chillednfunked 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    OMG his accent is strange - hard to listen to

    • @endeavourist5287
      @endeavourist5287 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      People would probably think the same thing about you if you tried to speak Portuguese.

    • @LivinginSAtv
      @LivinginSAtv  3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@endeavourist5287 🤣🤣🤣🤣

    • @nelsonchinasamy9857
      @nelsonchinasamy9857 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I am English speaking and I understand him perfectly well . But I do have a problem understanding Afrikaans speaking people speaking English.