AFRICITIES - The African Mirror

May

2021

Watch out for hackers, Britain’s spy agency tells smart cities

UMBERTO BACCHI CITIES embracing technology to improve urban life risk falling prey to hackers, Britain's cybersecurity agency warned on Friday, urging local authorities to ensure smart cities are armed with digital defences. Criminals and foreign governments can target technologies deployed to improve city services such as sensors and internet-connected devices to steal sensitive data and cause disruption, said Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). "New digital technology is going to improve our lives and help protect the environment, but it is essential we take steps now to make connected places more resilient to cyber attacks," Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Johannesburg is threatening to sideline informal waste pickers. Why it’s a bad idea

AFRICITIES

LIKE all cities in the world, Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial capital, has a waste management problem. In 2018/19, more than 290 000 tonnes of waste was illegally dumped in neighbourhoods across the city. Illegal dumping will likely increase, as the four legal landfills will be full in less than three years. MELANIE SAMSON, Sr Lecturer in Human Geography, University of the Witwatersrand Various efforts have been made over the years to try and manage the problems better. A contentious, and politically sensitive issue in all of these efforts has been the role of waste reclaimers, the informal actors who earn…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Johannesburg in decay

AFRICITIES

"WHAT'S the word Johannesburg?” Gil Scott-Heron asked in 1975. An answer came the following year when children in Soweto ran into fascist bullets, their hearts full of courage and resolve to overcome oppression. Johannesburg – Joburg, Jozi, eGoli, eRhawutini, Gauteng, Maboneng – is a city of gold, lights, barbed wire, jazz, the sun setting into lava, the burnt orange of aloes in flower against dry grass, a great university, men with guns, shopping malls, the sudden malachite of parakeets on the wing above the city forest and the smoke from the braziers hanging low in the shack settlements when winter bites. Its…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

DRC agrees $100 mln solar-hybrid power deal for three cities

AFRICITIES

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo has signed a $100 million solar-hybrid power deal with a consortium led by Gridworks, to provide electricity to half a million people across three cities that have no grid connection. Solar-hybrid systems combine solar power with another electricity-generating energy source. For this 22-year concession, the backup power source will be diesel, Gridworks said. Less than 10% of Congo's roughly 90 million people have reliable access to electricity. The consortium is led by Gridworks, which is owned and financed by the British development finance institution CDC Group, and includes French utility company Eranove and Spanish power developer…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

The fascinating history of how residents named their informal settlements in Nairobi

AFRICITIES

IN Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, it is estimated that over 70% of the population live in informal settlements. Many of these have a history rooted in colonial policies whereby the “African native” was a temporary resident of the city. Africans could only live in the city as registered labourers. MELISSA WANJIRU-MWITA, Lecturer, Technical University of Kenya As these informal settlements grew over the years, their names – and the names of places within them – have grown to encapsulate their history. Africans were forced to live in dormitory-like working quarters. In spite of these restrictions, some still found their way…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Senegal architects ditch concrete for earth in revival of old techniques

AFRICITIES

NELLIE PEYTON and CHRISTOPHE VAN DER PERRE CONSTRUCTION is booming in Dakar, where unfinished apartment blocks tower over most streets, their exposed concrete bricks a dull uniform grey. In one site, however, a building stands out - the bricks the workers are laying are made of raw, red earth. Concrete is inexpensive and used with abandon in Senegal's capital, but it is poorly suited to the West African heat. On summer days, when temperatures frequently reach 100 degrees fahrenheit (38°C), the buildings become furnaces, cooled only with blasts of air conditioning. Earth naturally regulates heat and humidity, say the founders…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Solar minibuses for Africa? Data seen as key to green transport switch

AFRICITIES

MEGAN ROWLING AS emissions from African transport surge, governments need to find ways to encourage a shift to cleaner, healthier electric vehicles, especially among the minibus and motorcycle taxis that dominate transport in many cities, researchers said on Thursday. Investment in generating more solar-powered electricity to charge electric vehicles (EVs) could encourage their use, cut pollution and costs for passengers, and help stabilise unreliable energy systems, they said in a commentary published in Nature Sustainability. But most African governments lack the data on privately run mass transport systems needed to make the case for financial institutions and development banks to put…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

The terror of fire

AFRICITIES

GREG ARDÉ NOMASOMSON Dlamini isn’t likely to go down in the annals of South African history, but the terror of her death will be permanently etched in the minds of a small group of the country’s most impoverished people. Dlamini, 38, was a domestic worker in Durban. She lived in the Marikana shack settlement in Cato Crest, one of hundreds of thousands of people who call the city’s 581 shack settlements home. To officials and politicians, Dlamini is a statistic. But her neighbours recall her ready smile. And the horror of her death. Dlamini burnt to death at 3am on…