Braamfontein accommodation on the university's doorstep

It’s described by some as the northern gateway to Joburg’s city centre, specifically via the impressive Nelson Mandela (suspension) Bridge that spans the dozens of railway lines in the shunting yards outside the Johannesburg train station. To others, Braamfontein is a hub for the arts, entertainment and education just off the M1 freeway connecting the city’s older, central precincts with the newer suburbs to the north. And to anybody travelling through Braamfontein it’s a place of high-rise buildings, office blocks, flats and apartment buildings with shops of various types lining many of the streets.

Here you’ll find the boardrooms of major corporates, the campus of the Witwatersrand University (Wits), the Johannesburg Theatre (formerly The Civic), the 5th Dimension College of Visual Arts, the Neighbourgoods Market and hotels including the Parktonian and the Devonshire. There aren’t any houses to speak of in Braamfontein, but there’s a huge variety of residential options nonetheless.

You can rent a great unfurnished, one-bedroom bachelor pad (with access to a pool) for around R4000 a month – in fact you can get a semi-furnished bachelor flat for the same amount. R4500 a month will get you a comfortable, fully-furnished bachelor flat, and for a bit more room plus covered parking, there are one-bed roomed apartments going for R5000.

For a spacious two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in a well-maintained building with 24-hour security and within walking distance of Wits and the University of Johannesburg, you’re looking at paying R5500 to R6000 a month.

R250 000 to R400 000 is the range that most decent flats and apartments are selling for in the Braamfontein high-rises.

If you’re looking for clean, safe and affordable accommodation in Braamfontein, it makes sense to deal through agents who are very familiar with the territory and, better still, based in Braamfontein. Blue Label is just such a company, plus they specialise in buildings with security personnel on site, high tech security equipment such as finger-print readers and cameras, and they are continually refurbishing their buildings, inside and out.