Town Hall meeting in Observatory 27th March

Communication from OCA chair Leslie London to Ward 57 councillor Yusuf Mohamed: Dear Yusuf The Observatory Civic Association will be hosting a Town Hall meeting on the Wed 27th March at 6pm and hope that you will be able to attend and share an update on plans for the Village Green. The meeting is intended…

SAAO Open Nights

SAAO Open Nights The SAAO’s headquarters are in the Cape Town suburb of Observatory on the site of the former Royal Observatory. The historic building is recognised as a National Heritage Site, and houses administration facilities, offices, and the SAAO library. You are welcome to visit the SAAO in Cape Town on SAAO Open Nights, on…

Looking for new Arts & Heritage chair

Dear all As you may or may not know, the OCA is searching for a new chair of Arts & Culture (among various other positions, as listed on the our website). If you or anyone you know would like to take up the position (or any other vacant position), please get into contact with us at…

Unhealthy racism and inequality

Nadine Dirks (the former Liesbeek Action Campaign media officer) recently published her first novel titled Hot Water. Nadine Dirks – 7 February 2024 The South African context of a faulty public healthcare system, apartheid spatial planning and class and race divides breeds a strange state of being. Either we endure suffering silently, escaping into another world…

The cities stripping out concrete for earth and plants

Chris Baraniuk – 23rd February 2024 From Australia to Ontario, cities are taking up unnecessary stretches of concrete and asphalt, allowing nature to take hold in their place. On a hot July day, Katherine Rose picked up a sturdy metal pole and jammed it under the tempting lip of a pre-cut concrete slab. Rose, communications and…