JOHANNESBURG: ORANGE FARM TO ALEXANDRA AND MARLBORO , SANDTON
BY: CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS | ONLINE EDITOR
JOHANNESBURG: ORANGE FARM TO ALEXANDRA AND MARLBORO , SANDTON
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS WARDS 1 , 2 , 3 , 75 , 76 , 116
ACDP CANDIDATE
CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS
The story of Chanon Lecodey Merricks cannot be separated from the geography of Johannesburg.
His biography begins in Kliptown, but his political, entrepreneurial and community interests have increasingly connected him with several very different parts of the City of Johannesburg — including Wards 1, 2, 3, 75, 76 and 116.
These six wards are particularly significant because they connect two very different faces of Johannesburg.
Wards 1, 2 and 3 are situated in Region G, the City's southernmost administrative region, covering parts of the Deep South, including Stretford, Lakeside and Orange Farm.
The City identifies Region G as comprising wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 119, 120, 121, 122 and 131.
Wards 75, 76 and 116, meanwhile, are in Region E, the eastern part of Johannesburg associated with Alexandra, Marlboro and surrounding communities. City documents identify Ward 75 with Alexandra/Madala Hostel, Ward 76 with the 8th Avenue area of Alexandra, and Ward 116 with Marlboro.
Together, these wards illustrate the enormous economic and social contrasts that exist within Johannesburg.
WARD 1 — STRETFORD
Ward 1 is situated in Region G and includes areas around Stretford.
City documentation identifies Stretford as one of the major communities within Region G, while municipal information has also associated Ward 1 with Stretford and surrounding residential areas.
The demographic character of the area is predominantly that of a township and developing southern Johannesburg community, with a strong working-class population and significant demand for employment, infrastructure, transport, housing and municipal services.
For a politician or community entrepreneur, Ward 1 represents an important constituency because it illustrates the challenges of communities located far from Johannesburg's economic centres.
The distance between the Deep South and the Sandton economic corridor is not merely geographical.
It can also represent a distance between opportunity and poverty.
That divide is central to the kind of township-development philosophy Merricks has promoted through his political and entrepreneurial activities.
WARD 2 — LAKESIDE AND ORANGE FARM
Ward 2 is also situated in Region G.
City records identify areas including Lakeside and part of Orange Farm within Ward 2. Older City ward information identifies Lakeside 1, 2, 3 and 5 and part of Orange Farm Extension 1, while more recent municipal documents identify Ward 2 with the Mtshengu/Lakeside area.
This is an area where township development, housing, transport and basic municipal services are major considerations.
Lakeside and Orange Farm form part of the wider Deep South urban environment, where communities can experience significant distance from major employment centres.
The City's own planning documents describe Orange Farm as a geographically isolated community with major challenges involving infrastructure, social amenities, economic opportunity, poverty and unemployment.
This demographic and economic environment is important when considering Merricks' political message.
His emphasis on economic participation, entrepreneurship, media ownership and township development speaks directly to communities where economic opportunity remains one of the major political issues.
WARD 3 — ORANGE FARM PROPER
Ward 3 is strongly associated with Orange Farm Proper.
The City lists Ward 3 as part of Region G and identifies it with Orange Farm Proper.
Orange Farm is one of the most significant large-scale township communities in Johannesburg's southern periphery.
The City's planning documents describe Orange Farm as one of its most geographically isolated communities and highlight challenges involving unemployment, poverty, informal living conditions, infrastructure and access to economic opportunities.
At the same time, Orange Farm is not simply a story of deprivation.
It is a community with entrepreneurs, churches, schools, community organisations, young people, businesses, families and a growing demand for economic inclusion.
The City has identified major investment programmes for Orange Farm, including urban renewal, roads, stormwater systems, sewer infrastructure and other development projects.
For Merricks, the importance of Ward 3 lies in precisely this contradiction:
A community with enormous challenges but also enormous potential.
That philosophy is consistent with his wider argument that townships should not be viewed only as areas requiring government assistance, but as places capable of generating businesses, media, employment and economic growth.
WARDS 75 AND 76 — THE HEART OF ALEXANDRA
If Wards 1, 2 and 3 represent the Deep South, Wards 75 and 76 represent Alexandra, one of Johannesburg's most historically significant and densely populated township communities.
Alexandra is very different from Orange Farm geographically, but the two communities share several socio-economic characteristics: a large working-class population, housing pressures, unemployment, infrastructure challenges and strong community organisations.
WARD 75 — ALEXANDRA
Ward 75 is situated in Region E and is strongly associated with Alexandra, including areas around Madala Hostel and parts of the township.
The City has identified Ward 75 as an Alexandra ward, and municipal planning documents place it within the cluster of Alexandra-related wards.
The ward is characterised by a dense urban environment containing formal housing, informal settlements, hostels and established community infrastructure.
Its demographic character reflects Alexandra's broader history as a predominantly Black African township community, with a significant working-class and economically active population.
Alexandra also has a large youth population and a highly active community and informal economic sector.
The ward's challenges are visible in issues raised during community meetings, including roads, stormwater drainage, service delivery, housing and public safety. Recent reporting from 2025 and 2026 records continuing concerns about potholes, stormwater systems and municipal services in Ward 75.
These challenges make Ward 75 more than an electoral boundary.
It is a community where questions of housing, employment, safety, infrastructure and economic opportunity directly affect everyday life.
WARD 76 — ALEXANDRA
Ward 76 is also located in Region E and forms another major part of Alexandra.
City documentation identifies Ward 76 with the 8th Avenue area of Alexandra, while other municipal and demarcation information shows the ward covering parts of Alexandra and its extensions.
The ward includes a mixture of dense residential areas, community facilities, hostels and informal housing.
Like Ward 75, it is predominantly associated with Alexandra's Black African township population and working-class urban environment.
The density of Alexandra means that relatively small geographic areas can contain large numbers of households and complex social needs.
This makes local government politics particularly important.
Issues such as water, sanitation, electricity, roads, waste removal, housing, safety, schools, youth development and employment are not abstract political subjects.
They are daily realities.
For someone such as Merricks, whose political and business philosophy centres on township communities, Alexandra represents one of Johannesburg's most important political and economic environments.
WARD 116 — MARLBORO AND THE SANDTON CONNECTION
Ward 116 creates an especially interesting connection in Merricks' story.
The City identifies Ward 116 with Marlboro, in Region E.
Marlboro sits within the broader Sandton-Alexandra economic environment.
This gives Ward 116 a distinctive demographic and economic character.
It lies close to some of the wealthiest and most commercially important parts of Johannesburg while being connected to communities that experience significant socio-economic inequality.
That contrast is one of the defining characteristics of Johannesburg.
On one side of the economic landscape are Sandton's corporate offices, financial institutions, luxury developments and international businesses.
On another are Alexandra, Marlboro and surrounding working-class communities.
The physical distance between these places can be relatively small.
The economic distance can be enormous.
That contrast is important to Merricks' public narrative.
His story began in Kliptown.
His political and entrepreneurial interests have included township communities.
And his vision for KASIBC_AFRICA seeks to connect township audiences and entrepreneurs with larger commercial and media markets.
Ward 116 therefore represents an important bridge between Township Johannesburg and Corporate Johannesburg.
The City's planning documents also show that infrastructure and development remain major concerns in this part of Region E.
Municipal planning has included projects connected with Marlboro, Alexandra and surrounding areas, including housing, sewer infrastructure and other municipal investments.
SIX WARDS, TWO JOHANNESBURGS — AND ONE CITY
When Wards 1, 2, 3, 75, 76 and 116 are considered together, an interesting picture emerges.
They are not identical communities.
They have different histories, geographic locations, settlement patterns and economic environments.
But they share an important characteristic:
They demonstrate the extraordinary diversity of Johannesburg.
Ward 1 connects to Stretford and the Deep South.
Ward 2 connects Lakeside and Orange Farm.
Ward 3 is centred around Orange Farm Proper.
Ward 75 is part of Alexandra.
Ward 76 covers another important part of Alexandra.
Ward 116 connects to Marlboro and the Sandton economic corridor.
The six wards therefore stretch from the southern periphery of Johannesburg to the eastern economic heartland.
They also demonstrate the city's extraordinary demographic contrasts.
Johannesburg is a city where wealthy business districts can exist only a short distance from communities facing unemployment, overcrowding, housing shortages and infrastructure challenges.
The City itself describes Johannesburg as a diverse metropolitan area containing both wealthy and poor communities, global corporations and emerging enterprises.
That contrast provides an important context for understanding Merricks' political and entrepreneurial philosophy.
His argument is essentially that township communities should not remain permanently on the receiving end of the economy.
They should become participants.
They should own businesses.
They should create media.
They should employ people.
They should tell their own stories.
They should participate in the digital economy.
And they should have a stronger voice in local government.
FROM KLIPTOWN TO ALEXANDRA, MARLBORO AND THE DEEP SOUTH
There is therefore a geographical thread running through Merricks' story.
Kliptown represents his birthplace and personal identity.
The Deep South represents some of Johannesburg's most pressing development challenges.
Alexandra represents density, history, community activism and the struggle for opportunity in the shadow of Sandton.
Marlboro represents the intersection between township life and Johannesburg's powerful corporate economy.
Together, these places provide a physical map of many of the issues Merricks has made central to his public life.
The issues are familiar:
Jobs.
Housing.
Education.
Transport.
Safety.
Infrastructure.
Entrepreneurship.
Business ownership.
Youth development.
Economic inclusion.
These are not merely political slogans.
They are the practical questions facing millions of Johannesburg residents.
For Merricks, they also represent the unfinished work of transforming the promise of democratic South Africa into meaningful economic opportunity.
His story began in Kliptown.
His political and entrepreneurial journey now reaches into communities such as Orange Farm, Alexandra and Marlboro.
And that journey places him directly within one of Johannesburg's greatest debates:
How do you connect the city's enormous wealth and economic power with the millions of people who live outside its centres of opportunity?
For Chanon Lecodey Merricks, the answer lies in political participation, entrepreneurship, community development and media ownership.
Whether that vision can ultimately be transformed into sustainable institutions remains one of the great unfinished chapters of his story.
But the geography tells us something important.
From Kliptown to Orange Farm.
From Alexandra to Marlboro.
From the Deep South to Sandton.
These are not separate Johannesburgs.
They are different parts of one City of Johannesburg.
And increasingly, they form part of the story Merricks is attempting to tell.
A Boy from Kliptown — now looking across the wider Johannesburg landscape and asking what the next chapter should look like.
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