ECON-AD 213J | Class 7 Reflection: De facto segregation

The Cape Town crew!

Robson doing a handstand outside The Hussar Grill.

We have arrived in South Africa! We had lunch at Moyo in Kirstenbosch, a beautiful botanical garden at the eastern foot of Table Mountain. From the very beginning, the size of Table Mountain overhead was impressive from below. Moyo is purported to serve authentic African cuisine, and it delivered all the exotic meals at whose sight a foreigner would either cringe or salivate: crocodile pies, worm appetisers, and kidneys of every kind. I hate worms so much. I failed a biology test back in the third grade because I refused to study the diagrams of the worm anatomy. Many years later, I still can’t look at worms without my stomach lurching. Thankfully, I did not puke.

Our first lecture during our regional seminar was with Ivan Turok, Deputy Director of the Economic Performance and Development Performance of the Human Sciences Research Council in Cape Town. Although he is South African, he lived in the UK most of his life, only returning to Cape Town seven years ago to apply his foreign education back home. He presented us with an overview of urbanisation policy in Cape Town. According to him, the de jure period of apartheid may be over, but de facto segregation continues to persist due to systemic forces that prevents people from economic mobility.

The contrast between affluent suburban areas versus overcrowded townships represents this segregation the most: because housing prices in the former category are so high, black people cannot move into these areas of opportunity. Instead, they commute from slum areas far from the Cape Town CBD. Although some reforms have been proposed, such as creating a new neighborhood altogether to circumvent the bureaucratic hoops that rezoning Cape Town would require, none have been proven to be effective. I think the question of persistent segregation should be addressed before people rally and resort to extreme measures to be heard.

We had dinner at the Hussar Grill, and the food was absolutely fantastic. Even without the pairings of world-famous South African red wine, the sirloin steak I tasted was succulent, soft, and saucy. I finished dinner off with Malva pudding, a traditional South African dessert served with vanilla pod ice cream. It goes without saying that I couldn’t move after dinner, which is why I sat and enjoyed a steaming cup of tea to let the flavours sit in my belly before we headed home. I have a lot of optimism for what’s to come next, my first impression so far has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m so excited to be here.