Sep 27th, 2008 · This week, the Curry Stone Design Prize was awarded to a South African architecture firm that figured out how to make a cheap house with a timber frame and a whole lot of sandbags. The houses are energy efficient and easily assembled, and could replace more hazardous structures in the shantytowns around Cape Town. South African architect Luyanda Mphahlwa talks with Scott Simon about his prize-winning design.
Nov 21st, 2007 · Ian Smith, Rhodesia's last white prime minister whose attempts to resist black rule dragged the country now known as Zimbabwe into isolation and civil war, died after suffering a stroke. He was 88. Smith died at a clinic near Cape Town, South Africa.
Aug 26th, 2007 · South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, but he spent much of his life in exile. With inspiration from Duke Ellington and others, Ibrahim's sound became more deeply rooted in Africa. Today, few living composers can match his melodic inventiveness.
Jun 11th, 2005 · Hamilton Naki, who died this week in Cape Town, South Africa, was a skilled medical worker who assisted in the world's first heart transplants. The lead doctor got credit for the pioneering work, but Naki was never identified because he was black.
Mar 2nd, 2005 · NPR's Ed Gordon speaks with Archbishop Desmond Tutu about his efforts to build the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.
Jan 13th, 2005 · Growing up in a racially segregated neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa, Neal Petersen overcame both physical disability and apartheid to become the first man of African heritage to race solo around the globe in a sailboat. He shares his incredible story with NPR's Tony Cox -- a story detailed in his autobiography Journey of a Hope Merchant.