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The Guardian

Jodi Windvogel's Life Under Occupation: inside Cissie Gool House and Cape Town's housing crisis

Denver Arendse plays with children in one of the rooms in Cissie Gool House on a rainy day. He has lived in the building for seven years and often looks after the children while their parents are at work Mariana Louw sews clothing in her bed in 2024. She had been living in the occupation for seven years. She shares this room and bed with her two sons Reyana Kube sits on her bed before heading to her night shift. She has called Cissie Gool House home for the past seven years Residents and children living in the occupation play in the courtyard of the building on a rainy day. Life under occupation focuses on the strength, dignity, and mutual care that residents build in a space marked by legal uncertainty. Rather than framing the occupation as a protest alone, the work highlights it as a solution – an act of urban resistance and survival led by working-class families Residents of Cissie Gool House gather for a community film screening in the main hall. Transformed into a self-organised community, the occupation responds directly to Cape Town's deepening housing crisis Children peer out of a broken window overlooking the courtyard at Cissie Gool House Children play in the hallway. By partnering with housing justice organisations, Windvogel's images will support local advocacy and public education, contributing to wider efforts to rethink housing policy and urban belonging Shahien Fakier sits on the bed in his room, which he shares with his partner and a neighbour's child whom they also help care for. He has been living in the building for seven years and works as a handyman, transforming many of the rooms into liveable spaces for families in the occupation to call home Photograph: Jodi Windvogel Jadewin Khan, left, and Clinton Puti pose for a portrait in the hallway of the occupation building A child runs down one of the long hallways of Cissie Goole House. Windvogel's project is both personal and political – an act of visual solidarity aimed at shifting narratives and creating space for more inclusive, people-led futures