The ink they put on your thumbnail yesterday is silver nitrate, first used in India's 1962 election. It darkens in the light and doesn't wash off. It might still be there at the December Art Mile, so wear it with pride. Welcome to Melville Untold, the newsletter that's still here after the ink fades.

In this week’s newsletter,

— Aubrey Moloto, Caroline Koma

Sponsored:

The Melville Art Mile is tonight, Thursday 5 November, 4 pm to 9 pm. Book on Quicket: free walk-in, R150 self-guided with unlimited shuttle rides, or R450 for the guided walk.

Every month I meet people on the Mile who've never been before. I love that. It's got us thinking: not many of you come back. The reasons I hear are fair. Some say "I've been already", which doesn't really hold, because it changes so much every month. Post-event reviews say the same thing from the other side: many guests thought the whole of Melville was taking part, or found the stretch between stops long. Over winter we let a few things slip, with not enough performance and not much of the neighbourhood switched on. So this month I've spent most of my time on calls, getting venues back.

We've attracted a few new brands, but there are also community champions who've backed us from the very beginning. So this one is for two kinds of readers: the business wondering whether to join us, and the guest who reckons they've seen it all.

The Man Who Didn't Know It Happens Every Month

Gerrit Hahn leads product and growth at HustleNest, a web app backed by Momentum that helps freelancers and creatives look after their money: quotes, invoices, tracked hours and a retirement annuity in one place.

He walked the Mile on his own in August and loved it, but he left thinking it was a one-off event. "I did not know that this is a recurring thing," he says. Our 3 September issue, Nine First Thursdays In, was the smoking gun, and he mailed us that same day. His feeling is that many guests land on the Mile the same way he did, by accident, and never realise it's every month. So, for the record: it's the first Thursday of every month.

His first reason for coming on board is the audience. "Melville Art Mile speaks to the same people that HustleNest wants to reach and struggles to reach," he says. The second is trust. He's had partners cancel an event the day before because they couldn't get the numbers together. What he saw on the night was volunteers welcoming people and showing them around. "There's a map, there's a plan, there's people taking care of every small bit." Creatives, he says, "have been disappointed for so long by financial institutions" that "building trust is super important and you can't fake that."

The Virtual Mile, Or How To Find That Artist Again

At the last Mile, Gerrit bought one of the origami insects by Melville artist Carmen Esterhuizen of 21Folds Origami, and paid on the spot. The artist needed it back for an exhibition, so he left without it, and without her number. "There was nothing convenient," he says: no card, no number, no page to find her on.

That's the gap HustleNest's virtual Melville Art Mile is meant to close. For artists, it's "a virtual home for their work," without the lifestyle posts that clutter an Instagram grid. For guests, it's a way back to the work on a rainy Sunday "instead of taking 500 pictures of all the pieces." On Thursday, look for small QR stickers beside the work of artists who've opted in.

The Neighbours Who've Been There Since The First One

Willem Prinsloo and Cornel Ridgard of Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty have backed the Mile since the very first one. Willem grew up in Auckland Park and has sold property in Melville for about 35 years. Cornel joined him about 24 years ago.

"We've seen a lot of things happen to Melville," Cornel says. "When I came along, it was also that vibey thing, but it's different now. It's more back to the old Melville."

Why they back it, in Cornel's words: "If the suburb does well, we all benefit. Melville as a suburb is coming back, I feel, in a big way. If Melville does well, we will do well. I really do believe that."

You'll see their newest contribution on the route this week: new wayfinder boards, A-frames and framed boards, now fully branded for the Art Mile, pointing you from stop to stop. Off the route, Willem organised the clean-up on Rustenburg Road and has spent the past three weeks clearing bugweed along Main Road, treating it so it's gone for good!

The Market That Wants To Live Up To Its Name

Most of you know it as 27 Boxes. Its real name is the Joburg Artist Market, and Samora Mbambi of its centre management wants it to earn that name. "We are trying to make what people know as 27 Boxes an artist and creative space and hub," she says, "and there is no better way to do that than partnering with the Melville Art Mile, because we are also based in Melville." A monthly partnership, she says, lets JAM test the idea in practice, "not just speak our name in theory."

"If a community backs something up for the community, you are never going to go wrong," she says, "as long as you include the community and respect all the residents and partners involved."

She's watched what it does for the people who trade there. JAM gets more vendor applications around First Thursdays than at any other time, and some now come by referral: "Hi, my name is X, I was referred by vendor Y. They say there's this Melville Art Mile thing happening on First Thursdays and they are always speaking good about it." The crowd she counts runs from young people to seniors. Artists meet other artists, swap contacts and sell work, and she has a theory about the timing too. It's the first Thursday, "not so far from month end. When people have money."

The Kids Who've Aged Out Of The System

Joburg Child Welfare runs Play Café at 27 Boxes, and Abubakr Hattas sees the Mile as "one of the only unique and authentic, community-driven art miles in Johannesburg."

The fit, he says, is safety. The Mile is about "creating a safer community, an accessible, safe space for people to come out and experience Melville," and Child Welfare's work is "accessibility and safety for children from communities. Melville is one of those communities that we service."

What JCW gets out of it is a chance for its over-18s, the young people who've left the care system, "to get experience working, socialising, making connections and building a network that they maybe would not have had." An art night, Abu says, "could seem exclusive," the kind of thing an organisation like his couldn't take part in. "Our Art Mile is completely different. It's extremely inclusive, giving our kids an opportunity to grow and develop."

His pitch to another business is the team: "a never-say-die team," with real reach in local and community media, and "an opportunity to empower up-and-coming artists, people who are really trying to make a living out of this."

Why Ours, And Not Another First Thursday

Braam has one. So does Cape Town. So why ours?

Abu has been to plenty of them. "A lot of First Thursdays, First Sundays, you get the same old people, same old vendors, and it's really concentrated in one space," he says. "When you come to the Art Mile, it's always something new. The themes change, the artists change, the people change."

"Melville is Melville," Cornel says. "There's nothing pretentious here." On a Thursday a while back, Cornel stopped at De Baba Eatery to sign an offer and walked into its quiz night. "I saw the people coming and I just thought, look at the beautiful people. The dressing, everything. It was just amazing to see."

I Love Melville

Gerrit has always preferred "a grown neighbourhood over a designed neighbourhood," with small shops "run by people with so much love." And Abu, who walked into Melville 16 years ago, put it short: "Melville's about the people, man. Melville just captured me. I felt at home, I felt safe, I felt like I could be anyone."

So, Come Back

The guided walk is tighter this month: fewer stops, longer at each, and a light meal at Café Picobella. It leaves at 5 pm sharp from the stairs at the 27 Boxes parkade entrance on 4th Avenue. We're also pushing the activities to make the night as immersive as possible. The R150 ticket includes them, plus unlimited shuttle rides. On the free ticket, you can now pay R20 a ride on the shuttles with SnapScan. The money goes straight back into the Mile!

Bring someone who's never been. Then bring the friend who swears they've seen it, and let them tell you what was new.

Run a Melville business and want in on December's Mile? WhatsApp Aubrey on 081 826 2904.

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For more updates as the week goes on, visit our Instagram page @snapson_7th or our Melville Pulse event calendar

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Thirteen stops this month, numbered in the order you'd walk them. The starred stops run paid activities or workshops.

1. Hotel Hope Interiors: pavement chalk drawing out front and refreshments

2. Realms Of Ra ★: feature artist K1S with RozMak and Taii, plus spiritual readings at R333 instead of R444

3. Dala Dank: multi-media exhibition, live music and an evolving mural

4. Salute Café: this month's poster artist Bertus van Rooy, with Elca Jacobs

5. Six Cocktail Bar

6. IT Corner: Alisa Ray's gouache abstracts and Venusrosevintage

7. Avalon Art, 80 3rd Avenue: Merle Grace reads "Little Badger's Wish" at 18:00 and 19:00

8. Bookdealers Of Melville, 10 7th Street

9. The Artisan, 12 7th Street

10. 27 Boxes: stage, market and the start of the guided walk, with a rooftop gallery, Stokvel Gallery, Play Café and Indoni Arts House inside

11. Topdose Coffee ★: caricatures at R250 or a R50 workshop

12. Café Picobella Trattoria

13. ERF350 Melville Studios: "The Questions" group show

The 27 Boxes stage, 16:30 to 20:15: Overdose McKenzie at 16:30, Pumas+Roses at 17:15, Glizzymo Glen at 18:00, Tumi Dibakoane at 18:30, Sasa MSK at 19:15, Hip Hop Kraal at 19:45 and M.A.H.U.B.O at 20:15. The guided walk leaves the amphitheatre at 17:00 sharp, and shuttles are R20 a ride on SnapScan.

Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero says the city has water "challenges" but not a crisis. Rand Water says the system is under sustained pressure from high demand. On Wednesday 28 October, Melville residents protested after eight days without water, holding signs that read "DRY TAPS ZERO ANSWERS". Water came back at full pressure that afternoon, and for many households it was gone again by Thursday.

Things got worse on 30 October, when City Power reported that "the protection cables had been cut at the Orlando Switching Station", which hit the Rand Water Eikenhof pump station and the Commando system that feeds Melville. Johannesburg Water has since been shutting the Hursthill reservoirs at night so the Crosby Reservoir can refill, and on 2 November it said the Parktown 2 Reservoir was "severely constrained". A SAMWU strike has also slowed fault logging. With municipal crews unavailable, the CREASS Emergency Team has been flushing hydrants in Melville, Richmond and Auckland Park North to clear airlocks, and thanked everyone who joined its Hello-Clean day on Friday 30 October.

The SA Human Rights Commission's report on the Gauteng water inquiry has some scary numbers: Johannesburg lost about 44.8% of the water in its pipes, worth R2.82 billion, and Johannesburg Water carries an infrastructure backlog of about R27 billion. Its line on the meetings so far: "Another meeting will not fix the pipe."

On the Pothole Party: Danny Nunes paid for the asphalt used in private sidewalk repairs on 9th Street himself. CREASS says "no community project funds have been used for his private work".

What You Can Do

If your water meter has been stolen or vandalised, log it on the Joburg Water fault pageand keep the reference number. Several Melville households, from 1st to 4th Avenue, have had stolen or vandalised meters replaced since 30 October, and a few new ones are already leaking, so report those too. The People's Water Forum outage tracker is collecting reports from across Johannesburg.

Private refuse collection is becoming a regular thing in the Ville. Pikitup resumed on Monday 2 November, but trucks keep breaking down and the backlog is still being cleared: Melville's Tuesday route ran a day late, and the Pikitup update on 3 November asks residents to keep putting bins out on their usual days. TimesLive reported that "rubbish has been piling up in northern, western and southern areas" as Pikitup faces a massive backlog with fewer workers.

Local refuse collector Andre Pretorius charges R50 per wheelie bin and R400 a load for bulky garden refuse or mixed rubbish. He doesn't take sand, stone or folding rubber, and he's kept the same prices all year. "I service all the communities. I deal a lot with resident associations and so on, and they really assist me in my business," he says. When parks or associations clean up, he mostly takes the load for free. "This is my way of giving back to the community." Call him on 076 828 5781.

Other private options, from their own listings:

• Green Grounds Waste Removals: household overflow, garden waste, branches and general refuse. R85 a bin (minimum three bins), bakkie loads from R750. 061 492 3903.

• Jay's Rubble And Garden Refuse Removers: garden waste, building rubble, old furniture and household waste. 011 678 4027 or 082 463 4748.

• Mr Rubbish: regular and once-off garden refuse, junk and rubble removal. 011 807 5200 or 082 571 6134.

• City Waste: household, commercial, garden and bulk waste. 010 102 4577, WhatsApp 071 588 0880.

• Skip Hire Pros: skips for general rubbish, garden waste, rubble and larger clear-outs. 087 250 3158.

• Interwaste: general and specialised waste, with a Johannesburg depot in Germiston. 011 323 7300.

Suzuki Swift and Jimny models are being targeted by thieves. In early October, Heather, who writes the 2Summers blog, had her Jimny stolen outside Die Pienk Kerkwhile she was at lunch. Its tracker led her to it in Lenasia about two hours later. Her advice: check that your tracker remote's battery works and that you can still log into the tracker app, then call the tracking company first, the police second and your insurer third. Residents report a second Jimny taken from outside the community water station on 31 October, found unharmed in Eldorado Park. The Melville Security Initiative and Beagle Watch are asking residents to stay alert. Call them on 011 678 1972 if you need help. And maybe let’s not park Jimny’s outside?

With the festive season coming, microchip your pet and plan for fireworks season. Sonja Kruger of Beagle Watch K9 says a chip helps prove ownership if a pet goes missing. Any vet can chip your pet, but make sure the chip gets registered: some vets do it for you, others leave it to the owner.

Beagle Watch K9 held a microchipping event on 31 October and plans another in early December. "I would advise chipping your pets as soon as possible," Sonja says, and it takes only a few seconds. If you need help with registration, call her on 069 518 0125.

Fireworks frighten pets, so Sonja advises keeping animals indoors over the festive season. Play the radio or TV, close the curtains and don't leave them alone. Ask your vet about calming remedies such as Calm Ease and Neurexin. If you're going away, check your pet sitter's references and stay in regular contact.

Tatjana Grabow's Music Studio on 5th Avenue is hosting an adult and teen singing workshop on Saturday 7 November, 10 am to 12 pm. The studio was founded in 2004 and gives one-on-one and group lessons in piano, guitar, drums and vocals. Tatjana added the workshops because "I feel I would love to share my decades of singing experience with everyone!" The two hours cover breathing, diaphragm techniques, jaw exercises, vowel production, pronunciation and warm-ups, "to demonstrate how important the right vocal technique is!" Only two spots were left when she announced it. Call 084 700 1212 or email [email protected].

A Little Shake-Up On The Street

Two of our favourite 7th Street names are closed. Sánguche Café and Artüro Tequila, although its online shop is still active and the Queeriokie Gamesnight on 27 November 2026 is still listed. We're trying to chat with Tania to get you the full story ASAP!

New Hardware On The Block

I know, nothing can replace the iconic Jack's paint that felt like it was part of all our family, but something's giving it a go! DIY Depot opened in Melville on 2 November, taking over that old Jack's Paint space. We popped in on opening day: staff said it was their first day trading and the morning had been steady. It's part of a hardware group with more than 110 stores nationwide. It seems theres a bit of life springing up at the boulevard again, thank goodness. Welcome to the Ville DIY!

Shantell Mbatha, a Wits master's student, needs Gauteng residents for a short online survey on indigenous land plants in the Egoli Granite Grasslands: how people value, know and perceive them, and what risks they face. "Your input will help identify knowledge gaps and support better conservation and awareness strategies for this important ecosystem," the project states. You need to be 21 or older and live in Gauteng. It takes 10 to 15 minutes and it's anonymous. Questions? Email Shantell at [email protected].

Merle Grace tells stories as Blackbird the Storyteller at the Melville Koppies Nature Reserve every month, as a volunteer. This month she joins the Melville Art Mile, telling her own children's story, "Little Badger's Wish", on the steps at 80 Third Avenue. It's about a badger who wants to be an artist. She reads it at the Mile tonight at 18:00 and 19:00, then tells stories at the Koppies on Sunday 8 November and Sunday 6 December at 9 am.

Merle fell in love with the Koppies on a hike two years ago and started telling stories in March 2025. About 70 people came to the first session, and they had cake for the first birthday this March. "I love to share stories that might have been told on the koppie many years ago," she says, from the San story "Where Fire Comes From" to the tale of Kasanko the Ironmonger, which honours the 500-year-old smelter still standing there. Give yourself 20 minutes to park, pay and hike up to the lecture hut. All fees go to conservation. From 2027, the stories move to the second Sunday of each month.

"Storytelling in nature, where stories have been told for thousands of years, is a magical experience."

The Koppies West work party is on Sunday 8 November, 8 am to 10 am. It starts with 15 minutes on how to recognise the common invasive plants, then clears lantana, bugweed, syringa, pine and wattle and picks up litter. Bring gloves, working clothes and strong boots; secateurs, loppers and saws if you have them, and there are spare tools and bags. Meet at the 3rd Avenue entrance, on the corner of Arundal and 3rd Avenue, Westdene. Questions: Brandon on 071 688 4924 or David on 082 789 1265. The Koppies West dog walk is the following Saturday, 14 November, at 8 am.

Angela Sobey has traded at the Melville Artisanal Market since the end of June last year. She built ZENistry from a DIY project: friends loved the hydrating face oil she made during COVID and wanted more, so she turned it into a full range. After years of helping people under pressure, she realised stress rarely stays in the mind, and shows up in the body as tension, headaches and fatigue. She then became a coach specialising in emotional intelligence.

ZENistry sells face oil, serum, body butters, pain-relief oils, magnesium spray and a popular African herbal spray called Isindu. She also makes raw honeys blended with black seed, ashwagandha and shilajit. "The Melville Artisanal Market welcomed Zenistry as a startup that gave me a platform to test my products," Angela says. She now has a shop at Garden on 4th in Linden and still comes back to the market because she loves the community. "True wellness isn't simply about feeling better. It's about living better."

The Melville gardening group has grown to about 155 members from Melville and neighbouring suburbs: Auckland Park, Westdene, Emmarentia, Greymont, Brixton and as far as Blairgowrie. Alison Polley Green started it around 2021 or 2022 as a space to share tips, plants and advice. Every two to three months, members meet for coffee and plant swaps, most recently at De Baba Eatery, and one member opened her garden for a Saturday morning visit. "What I love about the group is how generous and gentle everyone is," Alison says. "It's really a special place for like-minded gardeners." She's never had to ask anyone to leave.

Melville got into the Halloween spirit over the weekend. On Friday, about 50 children trick-or-treated on Fifth Avenue, with residents handing out sweets while Beagle Watch, SCP Security and CREASS Community Services kept the street safe. "It was lovely to see residents making use of their space and creating a safe environment for families," Danny Nunes says.

At the Joburg Artist Market in 27 Boxes, families got trick-or-treating, a haunted house, themed decorations, market stalls and live jazz. Samora Mbambi says the children and families were the highlight, and it was wonderful to see them getting engaged with their centre.

Elsewhere in Melville: Strange Alchemy at Piza e Vino, Millennial Halloween at Realms Of Ra and One Hell Of A Night at Zouk. The month's Pride celebrations added another splash of colour, with the AfriQueer Rising Pride Pre-Party at Ratz Bar on 24 October.

Thank you for reading this far! If this one gets you off the couch tonight, why not buy us a coffee on SnapScan? ☕️

Still deciding how to do the Mile? Book the R450 guided walk and walk it with Snaps: we're tightening things up!

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'til next week, Melville,

Roam, return, repeat.

Hẹn gặp lại ✌️