In 2019, a story about seven young Chinese women went viral on the internet. Unusually though, it wasn’t about celebrities or TikTok dances or even something with international political relevance. Rather, it was the tale of the women’s joint purchase and renovation of a large house — in which, they declared, they intended to spend the years of their retirement living together one day. In short, it was a heart-warming and charming narrative of empowered womanhood.

While it’s a long way from the suburbs of Guangzhou, Zelma Kriek’s home in the small town of Calitzdorp, in South Africa, is a rather similar sort of space. Here, Zelma