Abstract
Twenty one years since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, the cities of the nation appear to be in a downward spiral of injustice and callousness. This article considers the transformative significance of urban theology. Beginning with a description of the author’s insertion into the administrative capital of South Africa the article proceeds to chart out urban theology as a “God and Bible”, “contextual”, “intellectual” and “activist” endeavour. It then illuminates the vision of the New Jerusalem as described in the Old Testament in Isaiah 65:17-24 juxtaposing it with the context of South African cities today. This ancient urban vision will serve as a theological mandate for urban transformation.
Highlights
No amount of literary exposure could have prepared me for my relocation to the executive administrative capital city of Tshwane (Pretoria)1 on account of a new job at the University of South Africa
Beginning with a description of the author’s insertion into the administrative capital of South Africa the article proceeds to chart out urban theology as a “God and Bible”, “contextual”, “intellectual” and “activist” endeavour. It illuminates the vision of the New Jerusalem as described in the Old Testament in Isaiah 65:17-24 juxtaposing it with the context of South African cities today
One of the women from apartment 106 told me about how her drug dealer/ pimp had severely beaten her. When she threatened to report him to the police, he responded that he would personally take her to the police station since he was by no means intimidated by the South African police, who, he added, were “all in his pocket” due to the routine bribes he was paying them
Summary
No amount of literary exposure could have prepared me for my relocation to the executive administrative capital city of Tshwane (Pretoria) on account of a new job at the University of South Africa. My apartment complex was located opposite the Pretoria Arts Museum, close to the Union Buildings, a few kilometres from the student district of Hatfield and a number of foreign embassies. The neighbourhood I moved into had become part of the city’s red light district This was home to a unique amalgam of sex workers, university students, young professionals and admin workers. Foreign migrants from across the African continent increasingly became a feature in the neighbourhood. Plying their trade in bedding, clothing and wall mirrors (I bought my mirror from an Egyptian), the migrant communities’ steely resolve to progress economically and their boundless resilience became essential character traits in an urban environment seething with suspicion, envy and anger.
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