Author Janice Dowson

Janice Dowson

2 August 2016

Cape Town, South Africa

Labour and Enterprise Policy Research Group (LEP)

67 Minutes: Freedom, Justice, and Democracy – Nelson Mandela International Day – 18 July

This blog post provides a brief glimpse of Nelson Mandela’s life of public service. It outlines his political awakening, his arrest, detention and prison leadership, his role in negotiations that brought about the end of the apartheid era and his rise to the presidency. It then discusses Nelson Mandela International Day, which was declared by the UN as a day to honour Mandela’s years of public service.  The UN and the Nelson Mandela foundation call on all global citizens to commit to 67 minutes of public service every 18 July to commemorate the 67 years Mandela spent serving others. 

This blog explores the 1976 Soweto Uprising, in which approximately 20000 black students protesting for fair education policies were met with violent police resistance. It explores the historical and present student activism in South Africa and reflects on how my time in South Africa has made me re-think my own relationship with education. 

District Six – No Home LIke Place

This blog explores the forced removals and demolition of the District Six neighbourhood in Cape Town by the aparheid government, as well as the ongoing attempts at redevelopment in the area as means for providing restitution for former residents who were forcibly removed.  I provide my reflections on the importance of place for one’s identity and provide my ideas about the changing nature of the neighbourhood where I am staying in Cape Town; a neighbourhood bordering the fields of District Six.