The Chaos Precinct

This intimate portrayal of the vibrancy and precarity of the Ethiopian migrant traders who have reshaped parts of inner-city Johannesburg is a study of so many things: of interdependence; of entrepreneurial spirit; of the ways in which South Africa negates and terrorises migrants; and of how cities are shaped in emergent ways. In my everyday life I encounter migrants from across the continent (the Congolese car guard, the Zimbabwean barista, the Kenyan engineer) often with little sense of the stories of risk, love, loss and persistence that lie beneath the surface. Tanya Zack’s heart is palpable as she conveys the stories she has been privy to with deep compassion and respect. The courage of this book is its willingness to not look away, and its invitation to each of us to do the same.