"Then vs Now": SA TikToker Compares 1994 and Current Joburg Streets Using Google Maps in Video

• A TikTok comparison of Johannesburg streets from 1994 and today shows broken traffic lights, potholes and piles of rubbish
• Locations including Natal Spruit station and Pretoria Street appear far more neglected in recent Google Street View images
• More than 1,225 commenters debated the footage and its political message, with reactions sharply divided

A South African TikToker has sent shockwaves across the internet after posting a side-by-side comparison of Johannesburg streets captured on Google Street View roughly 15 years apart.

The video, posted on 1 October 2026 by @thesanctuary777, stitched together Google Street View screenshots of the same Johannesburg locations from before 1994 and compared them to their current appearance. The result was stark. Streets that once had functioning traffic lights and clean pavements were shown in their current state: traffic lights missing or broken, potholes, peeling buildings, and heaps of rubbish.

What the footage showed

The creator walked viewers through several locations across the city, including Natal Spruit station, Pretoria Street in the Johannesburg CBD, and various unnamed intersections. In 1994, the station showed people waiting for transport in a recognisable public space. The current footage showed the same site largely abandoned, with litter covering the ground.

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Pretoria Street, described in the video as looking "a little bit dirty but fine" and busy with pedestrians in the earlier footage, appeared in contrast as pothole-ridden and far less active in the present-day images. Traffic lights that were upright and apparently functional in the older shots were shown lying on the ground or gone entirely.

The creator framed the comparison as a broader argument about urban governance, closing the video with a pointed political comment directed at viewers worldwide.

View the TikTok video below:

South Africans react

The video racked up over 1,225 comments, with South Africans sharply divided on both the visuals and the message behind them.

@colinsamuels8 said:

"AND YET THEY WILL BLAME APARTHEID... 🤣🤣"

@Halfmoon pushed back:

"Show us our beautiful land before Van Rebeek"

@Seitiso simply wrote:

"Your point..."

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Source: Briefly News