Mother City

South African housing rights group Reclaim the City is making a big noise for affordable housing in extremely segregated Cape Town. Led by charismatic Nkosikhona ‘Face’ Swartbooi, they take their non-violent fight to politicians, developers, and ultimately to court. A passionate portrayal of a true grassroots movement.

‘We never stop reminding them that we’re here,’ says housing rights activist Nkosikhona Swartbooi. His organisation Reclaim the City originated in 2016, when the government sold an old school building which was earmarked for social housing to a private developer. Cape Town is still dealing with the ‘spatial segregation’ from the apartheid era, when Black and brown people were removed from the inner city and placed on the outskirts. Cape Town’s housing crisis is enormous, while much government land in well-located areas is unused.

Reclaim the City is challenging the government in court. But that is far from all they do. They occupy buildings for people to live in. They educate people about housing rights and their right to protest. Armed with expertise, creativity and joy, they make themselves heard in the City Council, at developers’ offices and a giant golf course in the middle of the city. At the vibrant centre of the action is Nkosikhona Swartbooi, whose determination turns out to be very personal. ‘My mum died when I was 7,’ he says. ‘I grew up in a shack with my grandparents, eight of us crammed into a single room.’ Now he has a daughter of his own, who has become his ultimate motivation: ‘I feel this urgency to make the city better for my child.’ 

Activist Nkosikhona Swartbooi will be present at the Q&As for Mother City at the festival.