Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate

4 Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate

 ADD IMAGE

Cape Town, South Africa: ‘A microcosm of the Global North meets the Global South’

Country profile: South Africa

• Locator map - ADD LINK
• Country map - ADD LINK

Climate: mostly semi-arid; subtropical along the east coast; sunny days, cool nights.

Population: 58,048,332 (2023 estimate).

Capital: Pretoria (administrative capital); Cape Town (legislative capital); Bloemfontein (judicial capital). Cape Town – population 4,890,280 (2023 estimate).

Voices from the Global South 2. The view from Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate focuses on the impact of the climate crisis on Cape Town, South Africa. The lead contributor is Dr Philile Mbatha, Senior Lecturer Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, with Emeritus Professor Michael Meadows, Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town and then President of the International Geographical Union. They talk about the diversity of South Africa as a country, and the diversity of Cape Town as a city/region and point to the inequalities within it, suggesting that it is a microcosm of the Global North meeting the Global South. 

The contributors talk about how the climate crisis impacts on different people in different ways, and the disproportionate way it impacts on marginalised people. For example, Mbatha and Meadows talk about the 2018 Cape Town drought and fires, and how wealthy and largely white communities in the city and those citizens of colour in the townships experienced both events very differently. 

This video will help you to:

• better appreciate the Global South’s perspectives on the inequalities of the climate crisis, and the impact of social and economic inequality on responses to the climate crisis.
• understand the importance of context when considering the climate crisis.
• recognise the significance of colonial legacies to the climate crisis.
• acknowledge the tensions between Western, environmental science and Indigenous knowledges in implementing policy (a theme picked up in Videos 3, 4 and 6).
• appreciate that the terms Global North and Global South are metaphors. 

4.1 Working with Voices from the Global South 2

Now watch Voices from the Global South 2. The view from Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate. As before, make your notes in your VFN to help answer the questions in Activity 3.

Video player: Voices from the Global South 2. The view from Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate

ADD VIDEO.

Voices from the Global South 2. The view from Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate

Activity 3: Watching Voices from the Global South 2. The view from Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate.

Timing: Approximately 30 minutes.

1. In the box below, note down some of the moments in the video that got you thinking and why they did.

Activity 3: Watching Voices from the Global South 2. The view from Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate, Your response to Question 1.

2. Why does Mbatha say that South Africa is a ‘microcosm of the Global North meets the Global South’? Provide one example that she uses to illustrate her observation. 

Activity 3: Watching Voices from the Global South 2. The view from Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate, Your response to Question 2.

3. How does Mbatha describe townships? And why, according to Meadows, are these areas more susceptible to the impacts of the climate crisis? 

Activity 3: Watching Voices from the Global South 2. The view from Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate, Your response to Question 3.

4. How do social and economic inequality, but also language, influence how ‘climate change’ is understood and prioritised across social groups in Cape Town?

Activity 3: Watching Voices from the Global South 2. The view from Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate, Your response to Question 4.

5. The 2018 drought in Cape Town, spoken about by Mbatha, reinforces for her why ‘context’ is important. Why do you think she feels context to be so important? What broader lessons can be drawn from her observation, particularly when thinking about the impacts of the climate crisis? 

Activity 3: Watching Voices from the Global South 2. The view from Cape Town: colonialism, class and climate, Your response to Question 5.