,COM2614 Assignment 1 (COMPLETE ANSWERS) Semester 2
2025 – DUE 15 September 2025; 100% trusted ,comprehensive and
complete reliable solution with clear explanation.
3 DIFFERENT DOCUMENTARIES PROVIDED
1. Mother City – Urban erasure and spatial politics in Cape
Town
I chose this documentary because Mother City – Urban erasure and
spatial politics in Cape Town provides a vivid illustration of how
colonial histories continue to shape urban spaces and social relations in
South Africa. The film explores the displacement of marginalized
communities, the privileging of elite interests, and the ongoing struggle
over who has the right to occupy, define, and benefit from urban
environments. Through its detailed portrayal of spatial politics, the
documentary highlights the power imbalances that persist in Cape Town,
showing how urban planning and redevelopment often erase the
histories, voices, and identities of historically disadvantaged groups.
This makes the documentary highly relevant for a decolonial analysis, as
it allows for a critical examination of how knowledge, voice, and
representation operate within urban spaces. By applying a decolonial
lens, this essay will examine whose perspectives are foregrounded,
whose experiences are marginalized, and how media practices either
challenge or reinforce colonial legacies in contemporary city spaces.
TOPIC
, “Decolonial Perspectives on Urban Erasure and Power Dynamics: A
Critical Analysis of Mother City”
Introduction
The documentary Mother City explores the politics of land, space, and
identity in Cape Town, one of the most symbolically loaded cities in
South Africa. At its heart, the film documents the displacement of Black
and coloured communities from historically significant areas, revealing
how colonial and apartheid spatial planning continues to shape lives in
the present. By centring the narratives of dispossessed residents and
juxtaposing them with the material realities of gentrification, Mother
City raises urgent questions about who belongs in urban space and
whose histories are remembered or erased.
A decolonial analysis is particularly relevant for engaging with this
documentary because the struggles it portrays cannot be separated from
South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past. The African Perspectives in
Global Context framework highlights how coloniality persists in
everyday structures of power, knowledge, and identity. In the case of
Cape Town, this framework makes visible how Eurocentric systems of
urban planning, property ownership, and historical memory marginalise
African epistemologies and lived experiences. Applying decolonial
thought enables us to see the documentary not merely as a story of
gentrification, but as an ongoing struggle against epistemic injustice and
colonial erasure.
This essay argues that Mother City foregrounds the coloniality of power
and knowledge in Cape Town’s urban landscape by exposing silenced
voices and highlighting resistance against dispossession. At the same
time, the film raises important tensions within decolonial approaches,
particularly around representation, global audiences, and the risk of
oversimplifying local struggles. By analysing the documentary’s
narrative, production, and reception, this reflection demonstrates how
decolonial communication perspectives both illuminate and complicate
our understanding of power and voice in documentary media.
2025 – DUE 15 September 2025; 100% trusted ,comprehensive and
complete reliable solution with clear explanation.
3 DIFFERENT DOCUMENTARIES PROVIDED
1. Mother City – Urban erasure and spatial politics in Cape
Town
I chose this documentary because Mother City – Urban erasure and
spatial politics in Cape Town provides a vivid illustration of how
colonial histories continue to shape urban spaces and social relations in
South Africa. The film explores the displacement of marginalized
communities, the privileging of elite interests, and the ongoing struggle
over who has the right to occupy, define, and benefit from urban
environments. Through its detailed portrayal of spatial politics, the
documentary highlights the power imbalances that persist in Cape Town,
showing how urban planning and redevelopment often erase the
histories, voices, and identities of historically disadvantaged groups.
This makes the documentary highly relevant for a decolonial analysis, as
it allows for a critical examination of how knowledge, voice, and
representation operate within urban spaces. By applying a decolonial
lens, this essay will examine whose perspectives are foregrounded,
whose experiences are marginalized, and how media practices either
challenge or reinforce colonial legacies in contemporary city spaces.
TOPIC
, “Decolonial Perspectives on Urban Erasure and Power Dynamics: A
Critical Analysis of Mother City”
Introduction
The documentary Mother City explores the politics of land, space, and
identity in Cape Town, one of the most symbolically loaded cities in
South Africa. At its heart, the film documents the displacement of Black
and coloured communities from historically significant areas, revealing
how colonial and apartheid spatial planning continues to shape lives in
the present. By centring the narratives of dispossessed residents and
juxtaposing them with the material realities of gentrification, Mother
City raises urgent questions about who belongs in urban space and
whose histories are remembered or erased.
A decolonial analysis is particularly relevant for engaging with this
documentary because the struggles it portrays cannot be separated from
South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past. The African Perspectives in
Global Context framework highlights how coloniality persists in
everyday structures of power, knowledge, and identity. In the case of
Cape Town, this framework makes visible how Eurocentric systems of
urban planning, property ownership, and historical memory marginalise
African epistemologies and lived experiences. Applying decolonial
thought enables us to see the documentary not merely as a story of
gentrification, but as an ongoing struggle against epistemic injustice and
colonial erasure.
This essay argues that Mother City foregrounds the coloniality of power
and knowledge in Cape Town’s urban landscape by exposing silenced
voices and highlighting resistance against dispossession. At the same
time, the film raises important tensions within decolonial approaches,
particularly around representation, global audiences, and the risk of
oversimplifying local struggles. By analysing the documentary’s
narrative, production, and reception, this reflection demonstrates how
decolonial communication perspectives both illuminate and complicate
our understanding of power and voice in documentary media.
