Ideology, geography, racial exclusion: The squatter camp as ‛blot on the landscape’

Abstract

This article examines the rhetoric of political resistance to desegregation in the new South Africa. As a case study, we consider events in a coastal town in the Western Cape. During the Apartheid era, Hout Bay was designated a 'white' area; however, in April 1991 a community of around 2000 'squatters' were granted rights of legal residence in the area and a new township called Imizamo Yethu was established. An analysis of reactions to this event in the local media reveals a common theme: the exclusion or containment of squatters has been justified on the grounds that Imizamo Yethu is 'out-of-place' in Hout Bay, that it defiles the town's identity as a site of scenic beauty. Employing Billig's (1991) rhetorical framework, we consider such arguments' dual role: (1) as an expression of resistance to local change and (2) as part of a wider ideological scheme concerned with policing the (racial) slum. We also note how the location and architecture of Imizamo Yethu have embodied the idea that it is 'foreign' to Hout Bay. As an overriding theme, the article emphasizes the significance of spatial constructions for discursive research on racism