Johannesburg's capital of bohemia, Yeoville, is a mixed area where young black people wearing bootleg copies of New York Yankees baseball caps share sidewalks with elderly Jewish men in Orthodox garb. If this type of scenario is a bit too genteel for you, you can move closer to the city centre to Hillbrow, where the feel is much more like being at a convention of the Organisation of African Unity. This suburb of immigrants from the black townships in South Africa, immigrants from the rest of the African continent, and economic immigrants from the affluent white suburbs is a melting pot of African, European and American cultures. Clubs specialising in music with Francophone African influences jostle for space with clubs playing kwaito music, a blend of township music with rap and house music influences. For a certain type of experience, let's call it pure, you can drive south-west of the city into Soweto, where most of the nightlife is totally black, because all of the residents are black.
Clubs play anything from traditional African music to traditional American music.
These are parties where entire blocks of streets are cordoned off and mostly young people party into the night. Live music tends to be rare with most clubs preferring to play recorded music. This tends to be same in most South African townships low-cost housing areas with the trend being replicated throughout the country with varying local innovations. These places are not created for sensitive religious types and all serve alcohol. If alcohol offends, steer clear.