This episode is a tour de force in the art of change making and the Black history of housing activism in Cape Town. Nkosikhona Swaartbooi has been a leading activist in the Reclaim the City movement that has fought for working class housing in Cape Town's urban core. He is now featured in a documentary called Mother City (2024) that shows this remarkable urban struggle.
In this episode he takes us through his own journey and the city's journey to make radical change. For those fighting for housing in the Global North, this episode offers so many lessons about the versatile use of different strategies to make change, as well as the power of perseverance. No matter where you are, this is an inspiring story of change making at any moment has a long history.
For more on Mother City, including information on how to invite the team to film festivals:
https://www.mothercitydocumentary.com/
For more on the previous ChangeMakers episodes linked to this episode:
On Barcelona (see the second half of this episode)
For more on Reclaim the City - the housing movement we discuss: https://reclaimthecity.org.za/
ChangeMakers 2024 is supported by the Civic Power Fund and work with the UCL Policy Lab. This year they are supporting ChangeMakers to bring together a collection of Chats filled with extraordinary ideas and everyday experience to understand how we can change the world, www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/ucl-policy-lab and www.civicpower.org.uk/.
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