21st February: Sheila Madikane was kind enough to give up a bit of her time for my current project, (the portrait show that is going up in Heramanus, at the Rossouw Modern Gallery). Although it only took me a couple of minutes to get the source images that I required, she happily chatted with me for an hour or so. While doing so she filled me in on some of the background to what she is fighting for. I think that this can be summed up simply with the following words, empathy, respect and as an equal.
For those of us who are lucky enough to live in comfort, there is a harsh truth that many of us would not like to admit. We have little understanding of how the other half live. Indeed while the laws of apartheid may have been abolished, a form of social segregation is taking its place. When once it was a question of colour, now it would seem to be a question of finance. Owing to the fact that the price of land is guiding social planning, those who can't afford the prices that are being demanded are being pushed further and further out of the city. The net result is a form of social cleansing. For those who are being forced out the result is a double blow. The greater the distance equals more time spent travelling. At the same time more money is needed to pay for the travel. And yet somehow we think that this perversion of logic is OK?
