Space and Transformation: The Struggle for Architecture in Post Apartheid South Africa

The title and this essay, ‘Space and Transformation – the struggle for architecture in post-apartheid South Africa’ derive from the 2nd Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture delivered in Ghent in 2015. Its source as my topic is located in the intersection of three interrelated trajectories. The most obvious is the issue of my disciplinary grounding and the locus of intellectual thought, that of architecture and the complexity associated with the production of space, particularly under conditions of change. The other is the life work and philosophical teaching of this extraordinary man Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and the third is the condition of the world, and South Africa in particular, as we experience it today at what appears to be this unique historic intersectional moment of globalization and expansive technological shift within our nations’ democratic emergence. The essay draws on texts derived from other disciplines, such as literature and philosophy, particularly those that have relevance to conditions of the South, but resorts to the spatial disciplining associated with design. In so doing it reflects on architectural projects produced during the first decades of democratic rule. Most of these projects fall within the realm of human settlement, and have been selected in order to demonstrate transformation relative to the lived reality of ordinary South Africans, especially those marginalised and dispossessed by apartheid legislation. A semi structured longitudinal analysis has been conducted so as to reflect on the relations between the agency of design and the instrumentation of architecture as practice in determining spatial transformation.

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SPACE AND TRANSFORMATION: THE STRUGGLE FOR ARCHITECTURE IN POST APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

Afrika Focus ◽

10.21825/af.v31i2.9919 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Iain Low

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Spatial Transformation ◽

Production Of Space ◽

South Africans ◽

The Third ◽

Literature And Philosophy ◽

Nelson Mandela ◽

Building Community ◽

Democratic Rule ◽

Life Work

The title and this essay, ‘Space and Transformation – the struggle for architecture in post-apartheid South Africa’ derive from the 2nd Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture delivered in Ghent in 2015. Its source as my topic is located in the intersection of three interrelated trajectories. The most obvious is the issue of my disciplinary grounding and the locus of intellectual thought, that of architecture and the complexity associated with the production of space, particularly under conditions of change. The other is the life work and philosophical teaching of this extraordinary man Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and the third is the condition of the world, and South Africa in particular, as we experience it today at what appears to be this unique historic intersectional moment of globalization and expansive tech- nological shift within our nations’ democratic emergence. The essay draws on texts derived from other disciplines, such as literature and philosophy, particularly those that have relevance to conditions of the South, but resorts to the spatial disciplining associated with design. In so doing it reflects on architectural projects produced during the first decades of democratic rule. Most of these projects fall within the realm of human settlement, and have been selected in order to demonstrate transformation relative to the lived reality of ordinary South Africans, especially those marginalised and dispossessed by apartheid legislation. A semi-structured longitudinal analysis has been conducted so as to reflect on the relations between the agency of design and the instrumentation of architecture as practice in determining spatial transformation. KEYWORDS: MANDELA, SPACE AND TRANSFORMATION, POST-APARTHEID, RE-RITING ARCHITECTURAL TYPE, DESIGN AGENCY, LAND, HOUSING, SOCIO-SPATIAL INFRASTRUCTURE, RE-BUILDING COMMUNITY.

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Mixed and Mixing Systems Worldwide: A Preface

Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad ◽

10.17159/1727-3781/2012/v15i3a2500 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Seán Patrick Donlan

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

The Philippines ◽

Daily Lives ◽

New Horizons ◽

South Africans ◽

The Third ◽

The World ◽

Hebrew University ◽

Selection Of

This issue of the Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal (South Africa) sees the publication of a selection of articles derived from the Third International Congress of the World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists (WSMJJ). That Congress was held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel in the summer of 2011. It reflected a thriving Society consolidating its core scholarship on classical mixed jurisdictions (Israel, Louisiana, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Quebec, Scotland, and South Africa) while reaching to new horizons (including Cyprus, Hong Kong and Macau, Malta, Nepal, etc). This publication reflects in microcosm the complexity of contemporary scholarship on mixed and plural legal systems. This complexity is, of course, well-understood by South African jurists whose system is derived both from the dominant European traditions as well as from African customary systems, including both those that make up part of the official law of the state as well as those non-state norms that continue to be important in the daily lives of many South Africans.

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South Africa at a Turning Point?

The Journal of Modern African Studies ◽

10.1017/s0022278x15000427 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 53 (3) ◽

pp. 477-486 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elke Zuern

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Turning Point ◽

Case Scenario ◽

State Collapse ◽

Worst Case ◽

South Africans ◽

Nelson Mandela ◽

Wide Range ◽

Electricity Provision

South Africa is at a crossroads. The state has not adequately addressed dire human development needs, often failing to provide the services it constitutionally guarantees. As a result, citizens are expressing their frustrations in a variety of ways, at times including violence. These serious challenges are most readily apparent in poverty, inequality and unemployment statistics, but also in electricity provision, billing and affordability as well as a recent spate of racially motivated attacks which highlight the tension both among South Africans and between South Africans and darker skinned foreigners. The country has, however, been on the brink before and avoided the worst-case scenario of full-scale civil war and state collapse. Far too often South Africa's past successes have been attributed to the role of one man, Nelson Mandela. While Mandela was indeed an extraordinary human being who rightly deserved the international awards and accolades as well as the deep admiration of so many, South Africa's triumphs as a society and a state are the product of both cooperative and conflicting contributions by a wide range of actors. A central question at the present juncture is how well equipped domestic actors and institutions are to address the crisis. The following pages seek to provide some insights and through the perspectives of three authors to consider causes and possible responses.

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Testing the inescapable network of mutuality: Albert Luthuli, Martin Luther King Jr and the challenges of post-liberation South Africa

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v75i4.5297 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 75 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Allan A. Boesak

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Martin Luther ◽

The United States ◽

South Africans ◽

Faith Commitment ◽

The World ◽

Ethical Stance ◽

Martin Luther King

The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, 50 years ago on 04 April 1968, has been recalled in the United States with memorial services, conferences, public discussions and books. In contrast, the commemoration in 2017 of the death of Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli, 50 years ago on December 1967, passed almost unremarked. That is to our detriment. Yet, these two Christian fighters for freedom, in different contexts, did not only have much in common, but they also left remarkably similar and equally inspiring legacies for South Africa, the United States and the world in the ways they lived their lives in complete faith commitment to ideals and ways of struggle that may guide us in the ongoing struggles to make the world a more just, peacable and humane place. For South African reflections on our ethical stance in the fierce, continuing struggles for justice, dignity and the authenticity of our democracy, I propose that these two leaders should be considered in tandem. We should learn from both. This article engages Martin Luther King Jr’s belief in the ‘inescapable network of mutuality’, applies it to the struggle for freedom in South Africa and explores the ways in which South Africans can embrace these ethical ideals in facing the challenges of post-liberation.

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Brief Historical Review of Membrane Development and Membrane Applications in Wastewater Treatment in Southern Africa

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1992.0232 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 25 (10) ◽

pp. 1-4 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

G. R. Botha ◽

R. D. Sanderson ◽

C. A. Buckley

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Southern Africa ◽

Mining Industry ◽

Historical Review ◽

Mine Waters ◽

Considerable Potential ◽

South Africans ◽

Charged Membrane ◽

The World ◽

Membrane Development

Away back in 1953 few people in the world, let alone South Africa, knew or had heard about membrane desalination, but there was an increasing awareness that electrodialysis had considerable potential for the desalination of brackish water. In South Africa the development of the new gold fields in the northern Orange Free State and the problems posed by the presence of excessive volumes of very saline mine waters stimulated interest in desalination and the CSIR* in collaboration with the mining industry became involved in the development of the electrodialysis process. By 1959 the largest brackish desalination plant in the world had been built and commissioned. South Africans were thus in the forefront of this technology, even to the extent of making the required membranes locally. Our historical review of membrane development and the applications of membrane technology in Southern Africa encompasses both pressure- and voltage-driven processes. Examples of the pressure processes are microfiltration, ultrafiltration and charged membrane ultrafiltration or nanofiltration, and finally reverse osmosis with fixed and dynamically formed membranes. The voltage-drive processes considered are electrodialysis and electrodialysis reversal.

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“The RDP of the Soul”, geweld, vergelding, toleransie en Paulus se appèl om moed te hou

Verbum et Ecclesia ◽

10.4102/ve.v29i3.39 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 708-727

Author(s):

A G Van Aarde

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Moral Leadership ◽

South Africans ◽

Nelson Mandela ◽

King's College ◽

The Republic ◽

The University ◽

Peace And Reconciliation ◽

Thabo Mbeki ◽

Public Lecture

“The RDP of the Soul”, violence, revenge, tolerance and Paul’s appeal for enduranceThis article links up with both the Fourth Nelson Mandela Commemorative Lecture presented by the previous President of the Republic of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, in 2006, titled the “RDP of the Soul” and with the book of Dr Richard Burridge (King’s College, University of London), Imitating Jesus, in which he shows how biblical ethics has shaped South Africans’ lives since colonialism, apartheid and post- and neo-colonialism. The article argues that moral leadership by the Christian faith community in South Africa which combats violence by rising up in compassion against injustice can counter-balance the spiralling out of retaliation through revenge. The article describes tolerance in terms of the Pauline concept of endurance and the internalisation of hope for the future. Perseverance despite suffering is seen as the contents of tolerance in the midst of aggressive opposition against the essence of life experienced in terms of an individual’s thinking, willing and feeling. The article is a reworked version of a bilingual commemorative public lecture in English and Afrikaans presented on the occasion of the University of Pretoria’s centenary celebration and is dedicated to Professor Dr P J G Meiring, a member of the Commission of Peace and Reconciliation in South Africa.

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Islamic Studies in South Africa

American Journal of Islam and Society ◽

10.35632/ajis.v11i2.2436 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 274-281

Author(s):

Tamara Sonn

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Total Population ◽

Muslim Community ◽

Muslim Population ◽

South Africans ◽

Islamic Studies ◽

The Third ◽

Northern India ◽

Arabic Script

Background of South African IslamIn 1994, South Africans will celebrate three centuries of Islam inSouth Africa. Credit for establishing Islam in South Africa is usuallygiven to Sheikh Yusuf, a Macasser prince who was exiled to South Africafor leading the resistance against the Dutch colonization of Malaysia. Thefitst Muslims in South Africa, however, were actually slaves who hadbeen imported, beginning in 1677, mainly from India, the Indonesianarchipelago, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, by the Dutch colonists living in theCape. The Cape Muslim community, popularly but inaccurately knownas "Malays" and known under apattheid as "Coloreds," is the oldest Muslimcommunity in South Africa. The other major Muslim community wasestablished over a century later by indentured laborers and tradespeoplefrom northern India, a minority of whom weae Muslims. The majority ofSouth African Indian Muslims, classified as "Asians" or "Asiatics," nowlive in Natal and Tramvaal. The third ethnically identifiable group, classifiedas "Aftican" or "Black," consists mainly of converts or theirdescendants. Of the entire South African Muslim population, roughly 49percent are "Coloreds," nearly 47 pement are "Asians," and, although statisticsregarding "Africans" ate generally unreliable, it is estimated thatthey are less than 4 percent. Less than 1 percent is "White."Contributions to South African SocietyAlthough Muslims make up less that 2 petcent of the total population,their presence is highly visible. There ate over twenty-five mosques inCape Town and over one hundred in Johannesburg, making minarets asfamiliar as church towers Many are histotic and/or architectuml monuments.More importantly, Muslims ate uniquely involved in the nation'scultwe and economy. The oldest extant Afrikaans-language manuscriptsare in the Arabic script, for they ate the work of Muslim slaves writingin the Dutch patois. South African historian Achrnat Davids has tracedmany linguistic elements of Afrikaans, both in vocabulary and grammar,to the influence of the Cape Muslims. Economically, the Indian Muslimsaxe the most affluent, owing primarily to the cirmmstances under whichthey came to South Africa. Muslim names on businesses and buildingsare a familiar sight in all major cities and on those UniveAty campusesthat non-Whites were allowed to attend during apartheid ...

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Decolonisation, Identity, Neo-Colonialism and Power

Phronimon ◽

10.25159/2413-3086/3065 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

Author(s):

Bert Olivier

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Identity Construction ◽

World Order ◽

Humanism in the Autobiographies of Edward Said and Nelson Mandela: Memory as Action

Journal of English Language and Literature ◽

10.17722/jell.v1i3.23 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 93-99

Author(s):

Jihan Zakarriya

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Black Male ◽

Life Stories ◽

The Political ◽

Edward Said ◽

South Africans ◽

Nelson Mandela ◽

Black South Africans ◽

Binary Oppositions ◽

Bear Witness

This paper focuses on the concept of memory as a form of humanist activism in the autobiographies of Nelson Mandela and Edward Said, namely The Long Walk to Freedom (1994) and After the Last Sky (1999), respectively. I have chosen Mandela and Said because they dedicated their lives and efforts to the service of the cause of freedom in South Africa and Palestine. Their engagement with the political causes of their countries turns into a concern with worldwide struggles for human rights and racial equality. While Mandela emerged as a vital force against apartheid in South Africa, Said was a well-known and influential Palestinian critic and intellectual whose writings tackle the Palestinian struggle for justice within the worldwide experience of imperialism and its binary oppositions of white/black, male/female, superior /inferior. I argue that their autobiographies bear witness to the plight of Black South Africans and Palestinians as both a shared memory resistant to erasure and as a call for justice. Mandela and Said use their personal memories and life stories to construct a public reading of the meanings of the events that shaped them. Both are concerned with the ways their people have been represented by others, and how they struggle to represent themselves.

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Angola - an Oil Dependant Country in Sub-Saharan Africa

Studia commercialia Bratislavensia ◽

10.1515/stcb-2016-0023 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 9 (35) ◽

pp. 233-242

Author(s):

Boris Baumgartner

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

World Economy ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

African Countries ◽

The Third ◽

The World ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

The One ◽

Rich Countries ◽

Essential Problem

Abstract The Sub-Saharan Africa belongs to the most underdeveloped regions in the world economy. This region consists of forty nine countries but it’s world GDP share is only a small percentage. There are some very resource rich countries in this region. One of them is Angola. This former Portuguese colony has one of the largest inventories of oil among all African countries. Angola recorded one of the highest growth of GDP between 2004-2008 from all countries in the world economy and nowadays is the third biggest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and South Africa. The essential problem of Angola is the one-way oriented economy on oil and general on natural resources. Angola will be forced to change their one-way oriented economy to be more diversified and competitive in the future.

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