Delela Ndlela

In South Africa, the influence and popularity of ‘big men’ like Vusumuzi Cat Matlala reveal not only the broken promise of democracy, but a culture that rewards venality and self-advancement. Our heroes may reflect the best of us, but our villains may be a truer mirror. Oct 11, 2026 Photo-illustration by Toluwalase Onilede / THE REPUBLIC. On 6 July 2025, something unusual happened in South Africa.

And yet, even the tropical Modernist style was at least in part an attempt at retaining colonial control of the restive nation. British architects were commissioned to design new schools and infrastructure in the hopes that improved living conditions would erode calls for independence. But it was not to be a collaboration with the communities for which these buildings were constructed. As the imperial era dismissed indigenous building practices, so did the new Modernists.

Photo illustration by Dami Mojid / THE REPUBLIC. Source Ref: Union Building by Herbert Baker, South Africa. Léo Doctors’ Housing, Burkina Faso. / KÉRÉ ARCHITECTURE. Tower in the Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe. / WIKIMEDIA. Map of German East Africa (Korogwe) / LOC GOV. Photo illustration by Dami Mojid / THE REPUBLIC. Source Ref: Union Building by Herbert Baker, South Africa. Léo Doctors’ Housing, Burkina Faso. / KÉRÉ ARCHITECTURE. Tower in the Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe. / WIKIMEDIA.