JOHANNESBURG - Standing tall in the heart of Johannesburg, Ponte City, just next to Hillbrow, has been part of the city's skyline for almost 50 years.
This building's unique round shape makes it one of the most recognisable buildings in Africa.
It carries rich history of glamour, downfall, renewal and love.
But the future of this building hangs in the balance yet again as it's going on sale.
Designed by architects Mannie Feldman, Manfred Hermer and Rodney Grosskopf, this 173m high building opened its doors in 1976. At the time, it was the tallest residential skyscraper in Africa and remained in that position for 48 years. That is, until it was overtaken in 2023 by a building in Egypt. It was the 'crème de la crème' of inner-city living, easily comparable to other buildings in European and American cities.
Journalist and former resident Nickolaus Bauer says that Hillbrow was already a diverse and socially liberal neighbourhood where people of different races mixed. However, due to apartheid-era restrictions, this racial integration made authorities uncomfortable.
"Authorities at the time did not like that there was a lot of mixing of races and called it a grey area," Bauer explained.
"The area was then red-lined, turning off the economic taps. This [limiting] investment in maintenance, [halting] infrastructure development, and stopping banks from [approving] mortgages. You were starting to see the area becoming unpopular overnight."
Bauer said white residents fled to the "leafy" suburbs of Johannesburg, others to America.
And, by the 1980s and 1990s, the building had become ridden with crime, overcrowding and neglect - falling into the hands of building hijackers.
There was no water or electricity for a time, and its hollow core became a dumping ground for waste, filling up to the 14th floor.
"A snowball began gathering momentum, and once 2002 rocked around Ponte became a vertical urban slum falling victim to overcrowding," Bauer said.
There were ideas to convert Ponte into a high-rise prison, Bauer said, but that conversation never went further.
It wasn't until 2003 when the building was rescued by developers who undertook an extensive cleanup, and by 2008 the Ponte had got its 'groove back'.
"There was running water, electricity, and people were paying rent, from there a story gets flaunted that Ponte was being sold to two high-flying investors to turn it back into what it once was, a high-market place to stay," Bauer explained.
But amid the renovations, when the 2008 financial crisis hit, Bauer said investors pulled out, and Ponte was left half-finished until the owners got a new management team that carried on with the work.
Bauer moved into Ponte in 2012 to write an article about the building for the Mail and Guardian.
"I was sent to do a story about gangs, prostitution and crime -- all the terrible things you have heard about the building over the years.
"But when I went there, I did not find all of that. I found a building with people just trying to get by like everybody else. In other words, Ponte was a haven for the middle class of the inner city," Bauer said.
Bauer was sold by the view and ended up staying in the Ponte on the 51st floor for almost six years, paying just over R4,500 per month in rentals.
'It was an easy decision to make. I had been staying in Maboneng at the time. I figured 150 square metres on the 51st floor, having the entire city laid out before me while I sipped my morning coffee. Who wouldn't want to go live there?"
This building on the Joburg skyline quickly became a huge part of Bauers life and the beginning of a love story.
Bauer and his neighbour formed a bond that would lead to marriage and the exchange of vows right at the centre of Ponte.
He later started an NGO in the building called Dlala Nje, which means "just play" in isiZulu. This NGO is slowly establishing community centres and offering guided tours within the inner city.
But now, as Ponte City goes up for sale, many questions are being raised about the future of this building. Bauer says he remains hopeful for the development of the inner city, but he wonders if a sale will take place.
"I don't know what the new potential buyer will do, but Ponte is not going to collapse to a pit of despair as many people think Joburg is going to be. It's going to be there next year and in five years..."