ABSTRACT Drawing upon Ann Laura Stoler’s concept of “ruination”, this article critically examines the depictions of time and temporalities in Phaswane Mpe’s novella Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001) to explore the dynamically persistent imperial formations that are difficult to notice in the text. These temporalities serve as reflections of pre-existing social issues in post-apartheid South Africa such as apathy, historical amnesia, and xenophobia. The sharp fluctuations of the everyday and the looming sense of anxiety disconnect the Hillbrowans’ perception of their present from the longue durée of empire. This disconnection reduces the characters’ judgement of historical and socio-economic problems as affecting failings of individual morality and xenophobia. Furthermore, Mpe reveals the fluidity of time and space in Hillbrow through the recurring motifs of walking and sharing stories. This allows the characters to envision horizons beyond their immediate experiences and rediscover their lost capacity for remembering and self-recognition in the other.