“So Sad”: Clip of Pietermaritzburg Before ANC Leadership Has SA Feeling Nostalgic

• A clip of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal as it once looked decades back went viral
• The video sparked a wave of nostalgia, with people sharing memories of growing up in the city
• The post reignited a familiar debate about how much South Africa's towns and cities have changed over the decades

A clip showing Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal as it once looked took many people back. TikTok account @sa.w.corruption, which regularly posts content on corruption and governance issues in South Africa, shared the footage on 24 May, showing scenes from decades back.

In the clip, the streets are clean and well maintained, buildings are standing and in use, and traffic moves freely. You could see people going about their day without the signs of neglect that have become common in many South African towns.

Pietermaritzburg carries a lot of history. For many South Africans watching the clip, the footage didn't just show clean streets. It showed their childhoods. Comments flooded in from people who recognised the buildings, remembered walking those roads as children, or spotted a car that belonged to a grandparent.

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A country still carrying the weight of its past

South Africa's cities and towns have faced challenges over the past three decades. Poor service delivery, crumbling infrastructure, load reduction and water shortages have become part of daily life for millions.

According to research from Harvard, South Africa's gross debt rose from 23.6% of GDP in 2008 to 71.1% in 2022, with corruption and government inefficiency cited as major contributors to the slowdown in economic growth and the decline of public infrastructure.

South Africa is also still living with the economic and spatial legacy of apartheid. The World Bank classified South Africa as the most unequal country in the world in 2022, with roughly 10% of the population controlling 80% of the wealth.

For many who watched the PMB clip, the frustration isn't just about nostalgia. It's about what was promised and what has been delivered.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

Mzansi reacts to PMB throwback clip

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People shared their thoughts and experiences on the TikTok page clip:

@Madmax said:

"I walked there at night by myself in Grade 2."

@Beatlejuice🐞 wrote:

"So sad, and I was born in Pietermaritzburg."

@Ntandoyenkosi Ndwalane said:

"I just saw my grandfather's car 🥺"

@Arend Botha 🦅🇻🇦 wrote:

"My grandfather took me to the Museum in Pietermaritzburg."

@Zama said:

"The post office building breaks my heart every time I walk past it."

@Gee Beez Beaulinda wrote:

"My birth town 😔 1972."

@yourgirlessie said:

"I live like an hour or two away from this place."

@DustDoozel wrote:

"I was born here, 2005."

More on SA politics and governance

• Briefly News recently reported on the MK Party pushing back hard against the election of a new chairperson for Parliament's Impeachment Committee.
• A Dutch company hired a South African-born executive and let him go just one day later after something from his past political stance came to light.
• KwaZulu-Natal artists sat down with the ANC and came up with a list of demands before agreeing to support the party's election campaign.

Source: Briefly News