What if some of the problems facing South African cities are not simply the result of things going wrong, but of how our cities were designed in the first place?
Professor Edgar Pieterse, director of the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town, examines the structural forces shaping South African cities and what a different model of urban development could look like.
On 11 September 2026, Daily Maverick hosted the sixth edition of The Gathering at the CTICC in Cape Town. Under the theme Going for Broke: Cities Edition, the day brought together journalists, public officials, researchers, political figures, business leaders and civic actors to examine the state of South Africa’s cities ahead of the 2026 local government elections — what is failing, what is working and what it will take to make local government deliver.
The Gathering 2026 was held in partnership with Ninety One.
