Photographer: Barry Christianson
The ‘Mother City’ remains an ‘apartheid city’. This week, the Global Traffic Index ranked Cape Town number one in South Africa - and ninth in the world - for the worst traffic. Commuters face up to 83 hours of delay yearly while travelling to work in the city centre.
While Cape Town’s spatial geography and a lack of reliable public transport systems contribute to the problem, many commuters are working-class people who cannot afford to live close to the city where they work. Those who earn the least are forced to travel the most and live in untenable spaces. Their homes are on the periphery of the city, and this means that:
“By the time households have dedicated some 40% of income on transport there is very little left over for housing. While it is often argued that households should be spending some 20 to 30% of income on housing, for many South African households that ratio drops to 0%,” he explained.
“Mother City” is a narrative documentary that centralises the urgent issue of housing, ownership, and access to work in Cape Town - an enduring legacy of apartheid that has rendered generations of working-class people homeless. Against the backdrop of a country celebrating three decades of democracy, “Mother City” charts a defiant war against government and property developers in one of the world’s most unequal cities.
The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) and the Politics and Urban Governance Research Group (PUG) will host a free screening of the critically acclaimed film and panel discussion.
The event forms part of the ‘Land’ Research Niche Area of the Economic and Management Sciences Faculty, promoting research, community engagement, and teaching and learning on struggles to overcome spatial apartheid.
Details:
Tuesday, 5 November 2024, at 13:00
Library Auditorium, University of the Western Cape, Bellville campus
Discussants: Nkosikhona Swartbooi, a leader of Reclaim the City and Mpho Raboeane, director of Ndifuna Ukwazi.
Popcorn and soft drinks will be served at the start, followed by a takeaway lunch after the screening. The event is free, and all UWC staff and students are welcome.
The ‘Mother City’ remains an ‘apartheid city’. This week, the Global Traffic Index ranked Cape Town number one in South Africa - and ninth in the world - for the worst traffic. Commuters face up to 83 hours of delay yearly while travelling to work in the city centre.
While Cape Town’s spatial geography and a lack of reliable public transport systems contribute to the problem, many commuters are working-class people who cannot afford to live close to the city where they work. Those who earn the least are forced to travel the most and live in untenable spaces. Their homes are on the periphery of the city, and this means that:
- There are glaring racial disparities between those who use private transport versus those who use minibus taxis as primary forms of transportation;
- Black households spend 88 to 102 minutes per day of travel, according to the High Level Panel on the Assessment of Key Legislation and the Acceleration of Fundamental Change (2017); and,
- Poor people are confined to the periphery of the city, yet their lifestyles there reduce their chances of finding and retaining work.
“By the time households have dedicated some 40% of income on transport there is very little left over for housing. While it is often argued that households should be spending some 20 to 30% of income on housing, for many South African households that ratio drops to 0%,” he explained.
The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) and the Politics and Urban Governance Research Group (PUG) will host a free screening of the critically acclaimed film and panel discussion.
The event forms part of the ‘Land’ Research Niche Area of the Economic and Management Sciences Faculty, promoting research, community engagement, and teaching and learning on struggles to overcome spatial apartheid.
Details:
Tuesday, 5 November 2024, at 13:00
Library Auditorium, University of the Western Cape, Bellville campus
Discussants: Nkosikhona Swartbooi, a leader of Reclaim the City and Mpho Raboeane, director of Ndifuna Ukwazi.
Popcorn and soft drinks will be served at the start, followed by a takeaway lunch after the screening. The event is free, and all UWC staff and students are welcome.
