Looking back at the KwaLanga hostel redevelopment project

Clarence Mahamba, Yolisa Gqirana and Evelina Nomnikelo Sukwana, who were members of the Hostel Dwellers Association, with University of Cape Town (UCT) veteran architect Julian Cooke. They are some of the surviving members who were part of the KwaLanga hostel redevelopment project that began in 1985. The project created 3 000 housing units but did not convert all hostels into living quarters as some of the old infrastructure still serves as housing to families in KwaLanga. Some of the archive belonging to Gqirana shows images of former UCT vice-chancellor Dr Mamphela Ramphele and the late Emeritus Professor Francis Wilson. Read senior writer, Helen Swingler’s, article on the KwaLanga hostel redevelopment project.