Dave Mann, Author at Mother City News

Île: Watch out for the lava

2 August 202229 July 2022 by Dave Mann

There is only the actor, the stage, and two wooden crates. It’s all the piece requires. In Île, Sophie Joans takes us from Cape Town to Mauritius through a series of humorous and incisive narrative accounts of her family, her heritage and the legacies of colonialism.… Read more

DE|COMPOSITION: Life and death in process

7 August 20215 August 2021 by Dave Mann

In DE|COMPOSITION, artist, political ecologist, geographer, and environmental scientist Linzi Lewis puts forward the notion that “Life is a fragile and uncertain celebration.” Death is certain and integral to life, rebirth is intangible yet constant. Somewhere in between the two is where she locates her performance.

Recent Stories

Explainer: affordable housing in Cape Town

GroundUpThe City of Cape Town has promised 12,000 affordable homes The need for affordable housing in Cape Town is enormous. There are more than 400,000 people on its housing waiting list and half of households in Cape Town earn less than R20,700 a month.… Read more [...] Read more...

Fidelity fire service is unlawful, says City of Cape Town

GroundUpBut Fidelity says it is “confident that no existing laws prohibit or restrict” its private service by Liezl Human The recently launched private firefighting service by Fidelity ADT is “unlawful”, and no agreement is in place for it to operate in Cape Town, says the City’s Fire and Rescue Service.… Read more [...] Read more...

Mother City gig guide

ContributorHere’s some jols in July Music The Two Oceans Aquarium and Texx and the City continue with After Dark 2025, a stripped-down series of performances throughout winter. The second iteration, on 30 July, includes the band Visitor’s Centre, and singer-songwriter Carla Franco, winner of the 2024 Texx and the City Band or Bust competition.… Read more [...] Read more...

Rare rust becomes automotive poetry

Jackie CruzeA chance meeting in Barrydale had Jackie Cruze stumbling upon a rare rat rod of rust and rebellion, parked with a rough-and-ready bearing. Identifying the owner was straightforward. Div de Villiers has a similar disposition to the rat rod genre: creative, unruly, a collector and a raconteur.… Read more [...] Read more...

La Ronde serves up the sexual merry-go-round

Steve KretzmannA play with sexual encounters as its premise is likely to read very differently today, then it did when first written in 1897. Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde (originally Reigen in German) is made up of ten scenes, each one being a sexual encounter, but involving a character from the previous scene.… Read more [...] Read more...

Return to old world style with a syrah

Sadé AllcockThe draw of the old-world on the youth of today is a strong one. We hanker for an era where things seemed simpler. Inflation was lower, prices were cheaper, produce was fresh, and time was valued. Whether it was time to pray, time to rejoice, time to work or time to rest, there was always the ability to switch off and immerse yourself completely in your task.… Read more [...] Read more...

Darling Street eviction case postponed, again

GroundUpDepartment of Public Works are to discuss alternative accommodation options with the City. People living in the dilapidated state-owned building at 104 Darling Street remain in limbo as their urgent eviction case was once again postponed in June. The building is owned by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, which is seeking to evict the residents, who number about 30.… Read more [...] Read more...

Social housing at Salt River Market takes one step forward

GroundUpHeritage body gives the go-ahead for the planned development, but funding is uncertain and informal settlement residents still need to be relocated The development of social housing at Cape Town’s historic Salt River Market is a step closer to fruition after a required Heritage Impact Assessment was approved earlier this month.… Read more [...] Read more...

Homeless in Hope Street: Park occupiers fight for suitable accommodation

Steve KretzmannThe City is trying to move them to its Safe Spaces, but lawyers argue they deny people their rights to privacy, dignity, and freedom of movement. An attempt to evict dozens of people living in and around Hope Street Park in lower Gardens is before the High Court, with the park occupiers arguing the City’s Safe Spaces are not suitable as alternative accommodation.… Read more [...] Read more...

Silent Sea Point march for Gaza

GroundUpIsrael has blocked food from entering Gaza and killed more than 200 people at distribution points By Matthew Hirsch Several hundred people, mostly women, walked in silence along the Sea Point promenade on Saturday to show solidarity with people in Gaza.… Read more [...] Read more...

Police torture in Mowbray – case document goes missing

GroundUpLawyers are reprimanded by magistrate By Mary-Anne Gontsana/GroundUp One of the three police officers on trial for assaulting a man during a raid at a Mowbray barbershop in 2023 intends to plead guilty to the charge of torture. However, proceedings could not continue at the Wynberg Regional Court on Thursday because the officer’s plea proposal had gone missing.… Read more [...] Read more...

June gig guide

Rosa-Karoo LoeweWhat’s on in Cape Town this month Music Under a marquee on the lawn outside the Gugulethu sports complex in 2005 or so, Simphiwe Dana held a crowd of about 1,000 adoring fans in thrall. Her debut album, Zandisile, had been out for less than a year, and everyone in the crowd knew every word of every song.… Read more [...] Read more...

Mayor gives green light to controversial Bo-Kaap hotel

GroundUp“Consensus” reached after exhaustive engagement process, says Geordin Hill-Lewis Construction of a hotel on a vacant plot in the Bo-Kaap in Cape Town is to go ahead, but it will be three storeys lower than the original plan. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has confirmed the decision by the City of Cape Town’s Municipal Planning Tribunal to approve the development on Buitengracht Street.… Read more [...] Read more...

Tafelberg housing plan revealed

GroundUpWestern Cape Government plans combination of social, affordable, and high-end housing units The Western Cape Provincial Government has revealed its plans to build affordable and social housing at the long-contested Tafelberg site in Sea Point. During a public meeting at the Life Conference Centre in Sea Point on Wednesday evening, three options were presented.… Read more [...] Read more...

Hundreds mark Nakba Day at Castle of Good Hope

Matthew HirschPro-Palestine activists call for permanent ceasefire The Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town was a sea of red, white, green and black on Sunday as hundreds of people gathered to commemorate the 77th anniversary of Nakba Day. The rally was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).… Read more [...] Read more...

Fury in Dunoon over City home demolition

GroundUpInformal settlement residents have been replacing shacks with brick and mortar homes By Peter Luhanga/GroundUp Trouble flared up for the third day on Wednesday in Dunoon as protesters from Ezihagwini informal settlement vented their fury over the demolition of brick walls a resident had erected in an attempt to build a home.… Read more [...] Read more...

Cape comedian guilty of hate speech

GroundUpThomas Torr refused to respond to complaint of antisemitism and threatened to kill judge’s registrar By Tania Broughton/GroundUp Thomas Leyland Torr, reportedly an aspiring comedian, has been found guilty of hate speech in the Equality Court, sitting in the Western Cape High Court.… Read more [...] Read more...

Green Point land sale discussed

Matthew HirschNot all in favour of affordable housing on site The City’s intention to sell more than four hectares of prime land spanning Green Point and Sea Point was discussed at a public online meeting attended by about 100 people on Wednesday evening (7 May).… Read more [...] Read more...

Yoliswa Dwane Lecture: the war on Palestinian children

GroundUp“A nuclear power considers a sick baby to be a security concern.” Israeli-born legal scholar Dr Noam Peleg gave this year’s Yoliswa Dwane Lecture on 6 May. The annual lecture is hosted by Equal Education and UCT’s Centre for Law and Society, in memory of activist and Equal Education co-founder Yoliswa Dwane who died of cancer in 2022.… Read more [...] Read more...

A Doll’s House, Part 2: Hard act to follow

Steve KretzmannRejecting her husband’s disparagement, Nora Helmer walks out the door, leaving him and two small children behind. That was the final scene of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, first performed in Copenhagen in 1879. In A Doll’s House, Part 2, written in 2017 by American playwright Lucas Hnath, Nora returns 15 years later with a knock on the same door.… Read more [...] Read more...

Flower farm keeps Constantia’s coloured heritage alive

GroundUpJaftha brothers help heal a history of land dispossession Liezl Human/GroundUp Hundreds of coloured families were forcibly removed from Constantia in the 1960s and ‘70s under the apartheid Group Areas Act but a fifth-generation flower farming family is bringing their rich history to life.… Read more [...] Read more...

May gig guide

Steve KretzmannMusic Bass virtuoso Herbie Tsoaeli, who has been at the centre of both establishing our rich jazz tradition, and keeping it alive, is playing with his quintet at Art in Jazz on 1 May. At Room 91 (just above Chef’s Warehouse) on 91 Bree Street, there’ll also be work by numerous artists exhibited, including by Blessing Ngobeni.… Read more [...] Read more...

Residents battle for a say in Blaauwberg development plan

Steve KretzmannCommunity alleges their input over ecologically sensitive land has not been taken into account Residents of Blaauwberg on Cape Town’s west coast are locked in a battle over a proposed development on ecologically sensitive land in Big Bay. About 30 families are currently living on the land in shacks.… Read more [...] Read more...

Should you give handouts at traffic lights? A view from the street

GroundUpPeople helping do so out of goodwill and with the best intentions By Chantel Sampson/GroundUp My name is Chantel Sampson. I was a homeless person for six years. I lived at the foot of Table Mountain from 2018 onwards. You probably walked past me if you visited Van Riebeeck Park in Vredehoek.… Read more [...] Read more...

Cape Town’s water recycling project should not be privatised

GroundUpComment on the proposed Faure New Water Scheme closes on 17 April By Group of water researchers/GroundUp A group of water justice researchers has warned against the City of Cape Town’s proposal to “externalise” the implementation and operation of the Faure New Water Scheme.… Read more [...] Read more...

Western Cape promises progress on inner-city housing projects

GroundUpSeveral social housing projects in Cape Town will go to tender this year Matthew Hirsch and Daniel Steyn/GroundUp MEC for Western Cape Infrastructure Tertuis Simmers announced this week that he intends to finalise the tenders for three major inner-city housing projects built on state-owned land in Cape Town.… Read more [...] Read more...

Department of Social Development proposes changes to SRD grant application

GroundUpQuestions about income could be removed By Marecia Damons/GroundUp The Department of Social Development is proposing changes to the Social Assistance Act, including removing questions about the income of applicants for the R370-a-month Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. The proposed amendments are open for public comment until Monday, 14 April.… Read more [...] Read more...

Affordable housing proposed on prime Green Point site

GroundUpThe land value of the site ranks “among the highest in the southern hemisphere”. The City of Cape Town has approved the sale of more than four hectares of prime land traversing Green Point and Sea Point. The site currently includes the Sea Point library and civic centre, which are to be retained.… Read more [...] Read more...

Building in Bishopscourt begins for land claimants

GroundUpA return to the land is in sight for scores of families forcibly removed during apartheid Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp A sod-turning ceremony for the construction of 86 homes in Protea Village, Bishopscourt, was attended by land claimants, community members and government officials on Tuesday 11 March.… Read more [...] Read more...

East city ‘problem building’ occupiers face eviction

GroundUpAbout 30 people have been living at 104 Darling Street for more than two decades Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp Unathi Mangali’s daughter was a baby when they moved into 104 Darling Street in the Cape Town city centre twenty years ago. Today her daughter is 22 years old.… Read more [...] Read more...