“Three generations of white South African men were bound together at that table. Vermuelen was the first generation. He defined Africa, made it safe for Basson to defile. I was the last generation, the last to grow up in segregated neighborhoods. Between us was the silent photograph of Wouter Basson. Like a distant father, Basson was absent at the dining table.” – Henk Rossouw (Hole in the White ‘Hood). Also Mahmood Mamdani on Bantu Education at UCT, Gael Reagon on sisterhood, Binyavanga Wainaina on dis-covering Kenya, Gaston Zossou on African intellectuals and more…
Cover:
Strange Fruit by Lewis Allen
Cityscapes 5: Design Will Not Save The City (Africa Centre for Cities, April 2014)
Cities occupy and mark space in very real and physical terms. There is nothing ephemeral about any city, whatever its size, nor is there anything abstract about the consequences that flow from a poor design decision. While important in debating the outcome of urban interventions, qualitative assessments like “good” and “bad” are not the central focus of the fifth edition of Cityscapes.
