On ‘dirty’ rats, ‘dirty’ spaces and slow violence in Site C, Khayelitsha: an interdisciplinary ethnography of the everyday, living in a rat-infested area

du Plessis, Pieter

On ‘dirty’ rats, ‘dirty’ spaces and slow violence in Site C, Khayelitsha: an interdisciplinary ethnography of the everyday, living in a rat-infested area

Master Thesis

2019

Abstract

Rats are predominantly viewed and understood as pests, vermin and a risk to human health. Yet little is known about rats in the urban space and the entangled relationships they have with humans and the environment. This dissertation elaborates on the multiple identities that are connotated to rats as well as the complex relationships they have with people residing in Site C, Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa - an African township comprising formal and informal housing areas on the outskirts of the city. Through locating these complex relationships and engaging with stories and experiences of people living in close proximity to rats, an image of the rat emerged, mirror-like, reflecting the realities of inequality and slow violence in the lives of people residing in Site C. To illustrate the nuances related to inequality and slow violence, this dissertation analyses the manner in which rats are controlled in the city of Cape Town and by whom, the polluted river in 'Island’ - an informal area in Site C, and how people negotiate living alongside rats, witchcraft and violence in the everyday. This dissertation argues that instead of focusing on rats as vermin, pests or a risk to human health, through 'following’ them and the complex entanglements they have with us as humans, we are able to learn about the realities that many people face; realities which are characterised by inequality and slow violence. The dissertation ultimately contributes to an ongoing debate about rat control policies in the city of Cape Town and suggests considerations which need to be made in order to address the violence against the rat and the violence against people residing in spaces such as Site C.

Keywords

Economics

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