Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the link between high-mast lighting and the late-apartheid counter-revolutionary strategy of infrastructure upgrading in designated townships, questioning the appropriateness of today's continuous deployment of high-mast lighting in South Africa, in light of the historic context.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the connection between high-mast lighting and the late-apartheid counter-revolutionary strategy, questioning whether today's continuous deployment of this infrastructure in South Africa is appropriate. Since democracy, many redistribution policies have attempted to undo race-based inequality in South Africa; however, public lighting infrastructure has not received much focus. Cape Town's public lighting infrastructure is representative of this, where high-mast lighting acts as a signifier of race-based segregation. The late apartheid period had a great presence of militarisation, which infiltrated into infrastructure upgrading. In 1987, the South African Defence Force withdrew military troops from the townships, instead launching the Winning Hearts and Minds (WHAM) programme, a counter-revolutionary strategy focused on infrastructure upgrading in townships. Many residents were distrustful of the program because it was managed by National Security Management System and seen to have military ties. During the same period, electricity was often extended to townships to power high-mast lights. Many believe that high-mast lights enabled surveillance for the apartheid military and regardless of this opinion, one can speculate that given the apartheid context, the atmospheric quality shaped by high-mast lights created a prison-like environment, instilling a psychological feeling of being surveyed. Yet today, the City of Cape Town's provision of high-mast lighting infrastructure is the predominant solution for townships and informal settlements, despite its own recommendation against the use of high-mast lighting. How do the legacies of late-apartheid infrastructural policies, such as public lighting policies play out in the post-apartheid landscape and what do we make of this infrastructure?