|
Henrik Ernstson
24 October 2012 On October 6, Menngos hosted a Jazz concert to celebrate and honour Princess Vlei. This inspired the following article.. Can you play Princess Vlei? Can you bring her to life through the tunes of jazz? The drummer swirls tenderly across the cymbal, chip-chip on the hi-hat, and the gentle thumping on the base drum. Progressive rhythm, missing every third back-beat and then allowing the trumpet to enter on a high note, which ripples the water of the vlei. The black singer's vocal cord brings in tension, for a moment, the swaying movement of the Erica bush, its whispering communication with the soil is arrested in listening, together with the gathered crowd, on the jazz group playing. The group is trying out something. Experimenting if it is possible to bring the fynbos, the waters of the vlei, the pelicans searching for fish, the pounding hearts of the humans, and their silent dead ones - to bring them all in communication, in vibration with the mixing of tunes and rhythms. This is a trick, but one that might fail. If it happens, it is felt. If not, anticipation will stay in mid-air until the band stops playing. This is also what those involved in resisting the shopping centre and mobilizing the vlei are doing. Like a jazz band, they have crafted instruments and play them to touch people's hearts. They too are improvising, feeling their way in how to come together and shift into the next rhythmic section, searching for the way to pass on their message, and address and connect people and plants. Their practice of messaging is an experiment in delivering the complex and shifting rhythms and tunes of the value of the vlei, hoping to create resonance in pounding hearts, to strengthen their music and voices. In playing their jazz, they are trying to bring the dead alive, black, coloured, the Khoi and the San, so they can walk with dignity among us on the shores of the vlei: seeing, hearing, sensing the flowers, bushes, the birds chirping and the sun setting over Elephants Eye Cave. With their instruments they are playing with the children to join and plant trees and flowers,‹and to weave giant dream catchers to evoke and provoke and make palpable a desire to keep the vlei alive. They are resurrecting it to its proper place among the many everydays that are spun in and through the vlei by those alive, and those dead. Their playing of jazz to resist the mall and bring about an alternative is moving outwards, radiating, jumping fences to enter new locations, from Grassy Park, Elfindale, Lavender Hill, to Simons Town and Johannesburg; and then, from there, their act of messaging is meeting people when they are on their way to work, upon entering a store to buy bread, when opening the newspaper, when listening to the radio, when visiting friends, or when walking at the side of the road. The value of the vlei comes with jazz in progressive rhythms, missing every third back-beat to allow the trumpet to enter, and then the singer, the strong voice, that breaks through to ripple the surfaces of vleis and minds to bring in a feeling of value. This value resists being coded into simplistic protocols, but insists on your humanity to grasp it; a connection to past histories; to feelings of sorrow and joy, of melancholia, hope and pride. Henrik Ernstson is a researcher at the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town. He writes this in his personal capacity.
0 Comments
Press Release 5 October 2012
The Princess Vlei Forum would like to respond to MEC Anton Bredell’s statement (quoted by Peter Luhanga in the West Cape News, 30/09/12) that the City “made a mistake” when it approved the shopping mall development on Princess Vlei in 2002 . We would firstly like to hail this acknowledgement as a victory for democracy. We are confident that it is only the unflagging determination by concerned citizens to protect this valuable heritage has persuaded the Minister to acknowledge this error of judgement. We trust that this is the first step in reversing the decision to support the mall development bid. However, we do have a number of queries and concerns:
We would like to note that members of the City Council have consistently expressed unhappiness with this development bid, as demonstrated by SPELUM’s refusal to extend the rezoning. SPELUM made this call after reviewing the bid in the light of evidence brought by concerned residents, which highlighted the rich cultural, historical and environmental value of Princess Vlei. SPELUM’s response was an instance of local government doing its job: ie. taking into account the views of the public and making a decision for the greater good. It is most regrettable that this decision was then overturned by MEC Bredell. We hope that the recent decision by Mayor De Lille to limit the powers of SPELUM it is not an indication that the local government will be less transparent, responsive and accountable on planning decisions in the future. We believe that the gains made by the campaign to save Princess Vlei, and the irregularities uncovered by Cochrane, demonstrate the need for and power of a vigorous civil society to monitor the decisions of our public officials, ensure that they are responsive to the needs of our citizens, and ensure that they are fully transparent and accountable as they so often claim to be. We eagerly await a full and thorough investigation of these irregularities and trust that the City Council will be more transparent and accountable in its dealing of this matter than has been the case up to now. The Princess Vlei Forum, and the rehabilitation project Dressing the Princess, have enjoyed a collaborative relationship with relevant branches of Local Government, in particular in the Biodiversity Management Branch and Parks and Forestry. We are confident that the development bid will be defeated, and look forward to continuing this partnership to develop Princess Vlei in a culturally and environmentally appropriate and sensitive manner. |
AuthorPosts by Bridget Pitt unless otherwise stated. Archives
December 2015
Categories |
RSS Feed
