STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE LAND AND HOUSING ACTIVISTS

The Mother City team supports the leadership; the ordinary men and women and children who do not accept that state owned land in our cities should be leveraged for profit. "Land for people; not for profit" speaks not only to the heart of Mother City, but also to our impact campaign.

We hope this documentary will be used as a campaign tool to achieve the following:

Raise Awareness: Learning from activists who are frontline defenders.

Educate the viewer

Foreground Learning: Land and housing issues on a policy, political and legal level. Housing as a right, not a privilege!

Focus on advocacy: We are not powerless. Inspire viewers. Homeless and landless people do have agency.

Reclaim the City activists have been labelled as criminals and queue jumpers. In Mother City we show their side of the story as they seek to build homes in disused state property. These buildings have infrastructural challenges. Mother City aims to support the safety and dignity of people living here. If you would like to support, please see why and how below:


Fire Readiness

In May 2025, a fire in the Cissie Gool House destroyed the homes of some of the families living in the Long Street section of this state owned former hospital in Woodstock. The social justice movement, Reclaim the City, set up an emergency accommodation fund to assist people to rebuild what they have lost.

If you would like to contribute to rebuilding the roof structure, renovating damaged property and fire readiness (fire hydrants and training) please use the following banking details to contribute directly assisting the affected families:

  • Bank: Standard Bank

  • Account Name: Reclaim the City

  • Account #: 16-625-313-8

  • Branch Code: 020909

  • Or via Snapscan : https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/o75ghnLx

  • Using the reference  MCRTCSolidarity

Any other material support, you want to give to the elderly occupiersContact: Denver Arendse 0671507143 or Elaine Diedericks 079 728 6513

Restore access to water in Ahmed Kathrada House

In 2017 the water supply to the former Helen Bowder Nurses’ Home was cut by the council authorities. This creates serious health and safety risks to the residents. Through Mother City’s impact campaign we have consulted with a water engineer to look at ways to restore a safe and legal water supply to the building. This has cost implications. If you would like to support this please contribute to the following account:

  • Bank: Standard Bank

  • Account Name: Reclaim the City

  • Account #: 16-625-313-8

  • Branch Code: 020909

  • Or via Snapscan: https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/o75ghnLx

  • Using the reference: MCRTCSolidarity

Mother City as a tool for impact and activism, is intrinsically part of our story. Not only do we want to show Mother City to every "occupier" and "back yarder" living in corrugated iron and wooden houses all over our country, but we want to show our film to students and academics; to politicians and town planners; to builders, property developers and architects and not only reach those who share our own thoughts on housing and inequality and spatial justice, but also those who manage to live and thrive indifferently to inequality and homelessness.

We strongly believe that Mother City is not only exciting and riveting cinema, but also lends itself, as a conversation ignitor, perfectly to inspiring viewers to think and talk.

Our impact campaign is designed around the essence of Mother City: Land for people, not for Profit. Impact screenings and rolling out Mother City, will enable us to engage with audiences about how our constitution protects the right to housing as an essential human right.

If you want to host or support an impact screening, please get in touch:  contact@mothercitydocumentary.com

Right to Play

Inspired by the loss of his nephew, Mother City activist and narrator, Nkosikhona Swaartbooi has launched the Right to Play Campaign, which advocates for equal access to safe environments for recreational use for all children to get involved and support this campaign please see 

Read more about Right to Play here or support the work through the Movement for Care here.