Mugsy Spiegel | University of Cape Town (original) (raw)

Papers by Mugsy Spiegel

Urban Water Journal, 2022

Since 1977, the World Health Organisation has published global sanitation goals, targets and plan... more Since 1977, the World Health Organisation has published global sanitation goals, targets and plans of action, all using numbers and ratios to assess success. Governments, South Africa's included, have done similarly. Yet such assessments ignore how informal settlement residents use and manage toilets and how those sanitation practices reveal shortcomings in local authorities' attempts to assess success in meeting sanitation-provision challenges. Using ethnographic data gathered between 2013 and 2014 in four Cape Town informal settlements, the paper describes residents' on-the-ground sanitation practices. It shows how those practices have limited or precluded some people's access to facilities that are ostensibly provided for all; how socio-political factors lead to sanitation practices that thwart public health goals; and how such practices reflect popular aspirations to citizenship whilst undermining local authorities' systems. Challenging numbers-based claims about the extent of sanitation access, the paper suggests a need for ethnographic and functional experientialbehavioural modes of assessment.

This dissertation addre:=:ses the problem uf the i.mpact of a migratory wage-labour system on reJ... more This dissertation addre:=:ses the problem uf the i.mpact of a migratory wage-labour system on reJations 0f production 2.nd uf distribution in rur:. . 1 LePotho. Some 200 000 of that cou.i."ltry' s 1, 25 million people are oscillating labour m:!..grauts to Sout:!:1 Africa, most of them me.a. T!i.ei.L• earnings, remitted to their rural hom8 communities, •i:ffov:'.de the primary means of subsistence for their fam-Llies and nthers left behind. The study focusses 0n the diffusion of remittances ar..J the rural differQntiatior-to which this is related. It is argued that such differentiation is closely associated with the cyclical process cf domesti.: developme:ut in rural Lesotho.

Anthropology Southern Africa, 2020

South Africa’s 2018/2019 summer holidays were marked by a flurry of media reports describing, som... more South Africa’s 2018/2019 summer holidays were marked by a flurry of media reports describing, some in vivid, graphic detail, the ritual slaughter of a sheep on a popular Cape Town beach by a group of #MustFall activists. Their action was in response to reports of a private security company, ostensibly working at the behest of nearby local commercial outlets and residents, having forced Black people off the beach. Focusing on various media reports and responses to the incident, the article shows that there is a revival and regrowth of essentialist expression in the ways contemporary South Africans address persistently overlapping issues of racial and class differences that are made particularly salient through their being marked by everyday discrimination. Through analysis of media reports and responses the article considers the various forms of essentialist expression that manifested during the ritual and in responses to it. In doing that it reveals particular local manifestations o...

Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 2013

The Barcelona Settled Sewerage Pilot Project was established as a collaborative partnership betwe... more The Barcelona Settled Sewerage Pilot Project was established as a collaborative partnership between researchers from the University of Cape Town's Urban Water Management Group, City of Cape Town Water and Sanitation officials and Barcelona Informal Settlement Street Committee members. Its goal is to test collaboratively the viability of a settled sewerage system in an informal settlement (slum), Barcelona, located on a former landfill site. Direct engagement by officials and researchers with beneficiaries is crucial for such a project's success; therefore, a partnership approach was adopted. This also permitted researchers to assist municipal officials, since they faced capacity constraints. It became apparent over the course of the project that the partnership had been poorly set up and that partners' roles and responsibilities required renegotiation. Much literature emphasises the significance of ‘people-centred’ approaches, focusing on the ultimate users, in this inst...

Anthropology Southern Africa, 2004

Memory is often constructed around images drawn from landscape. But memory can also be constitute... more Memory is often constructed around images drawn from landscape. But memory can also be constituted through the process of traversing landscape—as if memory is inscribed in and through people's feet. What happens then, when a landscape changes? What kinds of change inhibit the making of memory by walking the land? The article addresses the above issues and questions by examining how a representative group of land restitution claimants attempted to document the names of residents who were removed from what is now the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It describes and analyses the process of walking the land to identify sites and how changes to the landscape affected that process. It shows that changes that involved ‘reversion to bush’ had quite different effects on the memory-construction process from those that involved afforestation. And it uses those examples to comment again on the relationships between memory and landscape, and between the intellect and bodily practice.

African Anthropology, 1995

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African Anthropology, 1997

Anthropology Southern Africa, 2011

Victor Turner ( 1920-1983) is a household name in anthropology. His work is also widely influenti... more Victor Turner ( 1920-1983) is a household name in anthropology. His work is also widely influential in literature studies, theology, organisation studies and other interpretive disciplines. He studied anthropology at University College, London and, after receiving his BA degree with honours, he continued his studies under South African exile, Max Gluckman, who having spent many years at the Rhodes Livingstone Institute in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) -founded and was the inspired leader of what came to be known in anthropology as the Manchester School at the University of Manchester (Gewald 2007). 1 Following Gluckman's request to produce an ethnography of the Ndembu of the Northwestern Province of Northern Rhodesia, Turner soon found that the extent to which ritual dominated Ndembu people's lives meant that he needed to concentrate his studies on what he came to call their ritual processes, a couplet he then began to apply more widely to ritual activity in a wide range of contexts (Turner 1967; Deflem 1991: I). Amongst his multifold contributions to the development of anthropology as a discipline, Victor Turner became particularly famous for introducing concepts that have more or less become part of the standard lexicon of any anthropologist. Being able to use concepts such as 'social drama', 'anti-structure', 'communitas', but above all 'liminality', in any conversation amongst peers has almost become an initiation protocol in itself. 'Liminality' particularly seems to remain one of Turner's enduring legacies in the anthropological conceptual repertoire. It was, of course, Arnold van Gennep who originally coined the term liminality in French in 1909. Yet it resurfaced and became popular only after 1960 when Van Gennep's work was translated into English (Van Gennep 1960) and Victor Turner ( 1967) adopted and adapted his concepts for an analysis of Ndembu rituals (d. Balduk 2008). 'Liminality' as a sociologically useful concept denotes the middle phase of any ritual process that can be divided, following Van Gennep, into three analytically distinct phases and during which an individual undergoes a transition from one social status to another, for instance, and indeed classically, from being a boy to becoming an adult man, or when a girl becomes a woman (such as during what have come to be known as initiation rituals). During the middle phase of such a process the individuals involved are understood to be 'no longer' and simultaneously also 'not yet'. It is thus an ambiguous phase; liminal personae are "neither here nor there; they are betwixt and between the positions assigned and arrayed by law, custom, convention, and ceremonial" (Turner 1969: 95). While Turner experimented conceptually with the term, he himself was not very strict about precisely how it might be used. For him, a 'liminal phase' could thus refer to almost anything in which there was a normally short lived period of upending of a prior hierarchy and during which power reversals occurred, or at least appeared to have occurred. His imprecision in his use of the term is exactly what authors such as Balduk (2008) dislike about the concept because in a sense it is one where 'anything goes'. Yet, as Balduk (2008) points out, for others it is what makes it an endearing conceptprecisely because of its possibilities for flexible adaptation and application. Anthropology as a discipline has moved on since Victor Turner's passing in 1983, and theoretical and conceptual developments have come and gone. Yet Turner's concept of 'liminality' seems to continue to appeal to the imagination of present day researchers who continue to apply it in a wide array of fields and interests: StJohn (2008) in the field of religion; Yang (2000) for making sense of social movements; Graburn ( 1978) in studies of tourism; Tempest and Starkey (2004) for their understanding of bureaucracies; Beech (20 I I) while analysing identity construction; Mackay Yarnal (2006) in studying ageing; Madge and O'Conner (2005) for an exploration of the sociality of cyberspace; Rumelili (2003) in a

DESCRIPTION While basic services have been provided in many Cape Town informal settlements, they ... more DESCRIPTION While basic services have been provided in many Cape Town informal settlements, they often fail to meet residents’ expectations as a consequence of poor operation and maintenance programmes. This study explored the inadequacy of operation and maintenance arrangements for sanitation facilities in Khayelitsha informal settlements in Cape Town. Using photographs, unstructured face-to-face interviews, literature review and analysis of some service delivery strategy documents, the paper highlights how poor operation and maintenance creates a vicious cycle of poor sanitation service delivery.

The quality of greywater in non-sewered settlements varies widely depending on the uses to which ... more The quality of greywater in non-sewered settlements varies widely depending on the uses to which the water is put and the detergents used in various washing processes. Settlements without on-site waterborne sanitation, dispose waste water in the most convenient way, often with limited choices with respect to considerations of health, environment and the potential to manage this water as a resource. While some municipalities have intervened to assist in these matters, too often well-intentioned initiatives fail. Officials become frustrated by these failures, while local residents cite socio-political and others factors to explain why they are being ignored. This study identifies the social challenges to effective greywater management in non-sewered areas as an element of the total service delivery package and highlights the reasons why previous initiatives to implement management systems have not been sustainable in the long term. In addition, the study identifies ways of overcoming ...

or download from www.wrc.org.za The publication of this report emanates from a project entitled W... more or download from www.wrc.org.za The publication of this report emanates from a project entitled Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) for improving water resource protection / conservation and re-use in urban landscapes (WRC Project No. K5/2071). DISCLAIMER This report has been reviewed by the Water Research Commission (WRC) and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the WRC nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

Water Science and Technology, 2009

South Africa is struggling to provide services to the millions of poor people migrating to the ma... more South Africa is struggling to provide services to the millions of poor people migrating to the major centres and living in informal settlements (shanty towns). Whilst the local authorities are generally able to provide potable water from the municipal network to communal taps scattered around the settlements, there is usually inadequate provision of sanitation and little or no provision for the drainage of either stormwater or greywater. This paper describes an investigation into ways of engaging with community structures in the settlements with a view to encouraging “self-help” solutions to greywater management requiring minimal capital investment as an interim “crisis” solution until such time that local and national government is able to provide formal services to everyone. The work was carried out in three settlements encompassing a range of different conditions. Only two are described here. It has become clear that the management of greywater has a low priority amongst the resi...

Social Dynamics, 1982

... on Lesotho has yielded the stimulating concept of the developmental cycle. From this I deduce... more ... on Lesotho has yielded the stimulating concept of the developmental cycle. From this I deduce that there is no specific class, like Eric Wolf's 'middle peasant', whose decline may precipitate a revolt" (Giliomee, 1982: 34). The ...

Social Dynamics, 1996

... Social fluidity appears to be a central feature of so many parts of the present world. Certai... more ... Social fluidity appears to be a central feature of so many parts of the present world. Certainly it features in post-colonial Africa, where much social and cultural life appears to be circumscribed by ever-growing institutional incoherence. ...

Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 1992

The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1994

This volume brings together many of the brightest and most interesting anthropologists writing on... more This volume brings together many of the brightest and most interesting anthropologists writing on the current situation hi South Africa. The volume, initially conceived as a tribute to the work of Philip Mayer, the author of Townsmen and Tribesmen, continues a tradition of digging into the interstices of South African society - at the folk, tribal, as well as national levels. Each contribution provides insight into the ways hi which people respond to changes in their immediate social environment. In particular, the chapters each examine the myriad ways in which tradition is a critical factor for those who must cope with the trauma of social and economic transition. This theme, central to the work of Philip and lona Mayer, allows the reader to probe the core issues of South Africa and provide a theoretical structure for the study of other societies hi similar states of transition to modernity. This is no random collection, but rather a tightly organized ensemble that gets far beyond the rhetoric of newspaper editorializing and political attitudinizing. Among the essays are: "Speaking for Themselves"; "Kalela, Beni, Asafo, Ingoma, and the Rural-Urban Dichotomy"; "Social Existence and the Practice of Personal Integrity"; "Migration and Ethnicity"; "The Origins of the Indlavini"; "Using Ritual to Resist Domination in the Transkei"; "Polygamy as Myth"; "Kinship Authority and Political Authority in Precolonial South Africa"; "Relying on Kin"; "Traditional Husbands and Modern Wives"; "Abafazi Bathonga Bafihlakala."