THE CAPE FLATS
While the term Cape Flats refers to the flat, sandy stretch of land located
on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town, the word "flat" definitely
doesn't say anything about the character of the area. There's a community
spirit you won't find in most other parts of the City, and in spite of the
hardship and poverty, there's colour in every corner and in every character.
There's colour despite a dark history.
The Cape Flats was born with the passing of South Africa's Group Areas Act of 1950 that saw thousands of black and coloured people forced from Cape Town's comfortable suburbs, to this area which is now home to most of the City's poorest communities. With the implementation of this horrendous legislation, families found themselves being uprooted, moved from family homes in areas like Claremont, Protea Village, District Six and Observatory to cramped council houses, and flats in what became Hanover Park, Kewtown, Grassy Park, Mitchells Plain (the biggest township on the Cape Flats, and home to more than 1 000 000 of the City's residents), Gugulethu, Nyanga, Langa, Khayelitsha, Manenberg, among others. Still today some people believe that the term Cape Flats refers to the rows and rows of council-owned flats that uprooted people were moved into.
The website www.capeflats.org aptly described the process of forced removals: "In some ways, the Cape Flats can be regarded as a smaller product of the previous government's Bantustan policy, and can also be compared with Soweto, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. It was an artificial creation, based on the sick notion that people of colour should not be allowed to live in the more upmarket areas ie. close to town and their places of work. Thus, people from widely divergent backgrounds and experiences, were uprooted from their communities and thrown together in the wasteland that has become known as the Cape Flats."
As the apartheid era government instilled the fear of "die swart gevaar" (the black danger), the Cape Flats and other black townships became no-go areas. As a result the Cape Flats is now probably best known for being home to some of Cape Town's most notorious gangs. Many of these gangs gained popularity mainly because young, underprivileged men in the townships looked to the gangs for a sense of belonging and identity, but over time, the focus has shifted to a battle for turf, power, and money (largely generated through the drug trade). But in our poor communities, the business of gangs remains a double-edged sword. While gangsters may largely be feared, there is often support from the community as many well-established gangsters support the community financially. Being on the outside looking in, this is hard to understand, but when you're unemployed and living well below the breadline on you can't be fussy about where the money's coming from.
And while the government was going around putting up boundaries between races, they also further divided the non-white community into sub-categories like black, coloured and Indian, determined to drive wedges into the non-white majority, creating a 'hierarchy' among the oppressed - effectively making some 'more oppressed' than the other, making Indian people feel they were better than black people, coloured people feel like they were better than Indian people, and therefore also better than black. During the apartheid regime, the state knew it was necessary to divide the majority, because if they were to stand as one, as they did eventually, the force would be one to great to fight against. However, to a large extent the apartheid government was successful in creating and fostering these divides, as today many communities of colour still discriminate against each other on the basis of race, class and social-economic circumstance.
With the onset of democracy, and following South Africa's first democratic election in 1994, came not only the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to 'help heal the wounds of the past', but also a process of land restitution which looks at returning the people of colour to the land that is rightfully theirs. The paperwork has taken long enough, and this year (just in time for the national elections, you work it out...) the first two residents returned to District Six on February 11 - exactly 38 years after the forced removals started in the area.
However, after 10 years of democracy, and two national elections, life on the Cape Flats and the struggle to survive remains a day-to-day battle. But at the same time there is a certain energy that inhabits this vast expanse of sandy land on the other side of Table Mountain (as opposed to the side you'll most often see on postcards).
And, despite a lack of facilities, infrastructure and in many cases, hope, the people of the Cape Flats have persevered all these years. And while many horror stories have emerged from Cape Flats communities, a number of success stories have also taken shape - one only has to look at those who worked against all odds to prove their worth and rise above circumstance.
Some well-known musicians who are from the Cape Flats include Abdullah Ebrahim (Dollar Brand), Hotep Galeta, Taliep Petersen, Jonathan Butler, Basil Moses, Mervyn Africa, Mac McKenzie, the Schilder Family, Emile Jansen of Black Noize, DJ Ready D and Shaheen Ariefdien of POC and the late Mario van Rooy, aka Devious, sports stars like Duncan Crowie, Shaun Bartlett, Benni McCarthy (FC Porto) and Quinton Fortune (Manchester United), writers, poets and artists like Peter Snyders, James Matthews, Tyrone Apollis and many others. Former SA Tourism chief and one of the founder members of the United Democratic Front, Cheryl Carolus also hails from Kewtown on the Cape Flats.
The Cape Flats was born with the passing of South Africa's Group Areas Act of 1950 that saw thousands of black and coloured people forced from Cape Town's comfortable suburbs, to this area which is now home to most of the City's poorest communities. With the implementation of this horrendous legislation, families found themselves being uprooted, moved from family homes in areas like Claremont, Protea Village, District Six and Observatory to cramped council houses, and flats in what became Hanover Park, Kewtown, Grassy Park, Mitchells Plain (the biggest township on the Cape Flats, and home to more than 1 000 000 of the City's residents), Gugulethu, Nyanga, Langa, Khayelitsha, Manenberg, among others. Still today some people believe that the term Cape Flats refers to the rows and rows of council-owned flats that uprooted people were moved into.
The website www.capeflats.org aptly described the process of forced removals: "In some ways, the Cape Flats can be regarded as a smaller product of the previous government's Bantustan policy, and can also be compared with Soweto, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. It was an artificial creation, based on the sick notion that people of colour should not be allowed to live in the more upmarket areas ie. close to town and their places of work. Thus, people from widely divergent backgrounds and experiences, were uprooted from their communities and thrown together in the wasteland that has become known as the Cape Flats."
As the apartheid era government instilled the fear of "die swart gevaar" (the black danger), the Cape Flats and other black townships became no-go areas. As a result the Cape Flats is now probably best known for being home to some of Cape Town's most notorious gangs. Many of these gangs gained popularity mainly because young, underprivileged men in the townships looked to the gangs for a sense of belonging and identity, but over time, the focus has shifted to a battle for turf, power, and money (largely generated through the drug trade). But in our poor communities, the business of gangs remains a double-edged sword. While gangsters may largely be feared, there is often support from the community as many well-established gangsters support the community financially. Being on the outside looking in, this is hard to understand, but when you're unemployed and living well below the breadline on you can't be fussy about where the money's coming from.
And while the government was going around putting up boundaries between races, they also further divided the non-white community into sub-categories like black, coloured and Indian, determined to drive wedges into the non-white majority, creating a 'hierarchy' among the oppressed - effectively making some 'more oppressed' than the other, making Indian people feel they were better than black people, coloured people feel like they were better than Indian people, and therefore also better than black. During the apartheid regime, the state knew it was necessary to divide the majority, because if they were to stand as one, as they did eventually, the force would be one to great to fight against. However, to a large extent the apartheid government was successful in creating and fostering these divides, as today many communities of colour still discriminate against each other on the basis of race, class and social-economic circumstance.
With the onset of democracy, and following South Africa's first democratic election in 1994, came not only the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to 'help heal the wounds of the past', but also a process of land restitution which looks at returning the people of colour to the land that is rightfully theirs. The paperwork has taken long enough, and this year (just in time for the national elections, you work it out...) the first two residents returned to District Six on February 11 - exactly 38 years after the forced removals started in the area.
However, after 10 years of democracy, and two national elections, life on the Cape Flats and the struggle to survive remains a day-to-day battle. But at the same time there is a certain energy that inhabits this vast expanse of sandy land on the other side of Table Mountain (as opposed to the side you'll most often see on postcards).
And, despite a lack of facilities, infrastructure and in many cases, hope, the people of the Cape Flats have persevered all these years. And while many horror stories have emerged from Cape Flats communities, a number of success stories have also taken shape - one only has to look at those who worked against all odds to prove their worth and rise above circumstance.
Some well-known musicians who are from the Cape Flats include Abdullah Ebrahim (Dollar Brand), Hotep Galeta, Taliep Petersen, Jonathan Butler, Basil Moses, Mervyn Africa, Mac McKenzie, the Schilder Family, Emile Jansen of Black Noize, DJ Ready D and Shaheen Ariefdien of POC and the late Mario van Rooy, aka Devious, sports stars like Duncan Crowie, Shaun Bartlett, Benni McCarthy (FC Porto) and Quinton Fortune (Manchester United), writers, poets and artists like Peter Snyders, James Matthews, Tyrone Apollis and many others. Former SA Tourism chief and one of the founder members of the United Democratic Front, Cheryl Carolus also hails from Kewtown on the Cape Flats.
A place in history
Because people were forced to live on the Cape Flats, there has always
existed an a sense of anger, frustration, and determination among its people
to fight the establishment, and so, at the height of the resistance, it was
on the Cape Flats and in Cape Town's black townships, that many
confrontations took place.
On October 15, 1985, police ambushed students in Thornton Road, Athlone in the notorious Trojan Horse killings. A small, almost overlooked memorial in Thornton Road (designed by Tyrone Apollis), is all that stands as a reminder of the day Jonathan Claasen, Michael Miranda and Shaun Magmoed were killed. Belgravia and Klipfontein Roads became hotspots where freedom fighters and apartheid era police often clashed, and Hazendal was home to Ashley Kriel (who some now refer to as the Che Guevara of the South African revolution) who was killed in his home by apartheid era security police.
On October 15, 1985, police ambushed students in Thornton Road, Athlone in the notorious Trojan Horse killings. A small, almost overlooked memorial in Thornton Road (designed by Tyrone Apollis), is all that stands as a reminder of the day Jonathan Claasen, Michael Miranda and Shaun Magmoed were killed. Belgravia and Klipfontein Roads became hotspots where freedom fighters and apartheid era police often clashed, and Hazendal was home to Ashley Kriel (who some now refer to as the Che Guevara of the South African revolution) who was killed in his home by apartheid era security police.
language of the Cape Flats
After the official abolition of apartheid and following South Africa's first
democratic election and drafting of a new constitution, government tried to
create a fair language policy for its diverse population by not granting
official status to only one language. As a result, the country now has 11
official languages: Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga,
Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.
On the Cape Flats, however, there's another dialect, which is a language in its own right even though it is not recognised as an official language. This language we speak on the Cape Flats has commonly become known as Kaaps and is a mixture of Afrikaans, English and Xhosa words. It also incorporates elements of the Malay and Dutch - the languages of the Malay slaves and Dutch colonisers respectively. While many people speak and understand this language, it is largely discriminated against, and many writers are too embarrassed to write in this language even though they speak it everyday. There are those, however, who are highly acclaimed for doing precisely the opposite. People like Peter Snyders, Devious, and many other Cape Flats hip-hop artists campaigned vehemently through their work to create a sense of pride in and acceptance for Kaaps. The language has a distinctive hard, yet lyrical sound and is marked with hard sounds and pronounced R's.
On the Cape Flats, however, there's another dialect, which is a language in its own right even though it is not recognised as an official language. This language we speak on the Cape Flats has commonly become known as Kaaps and is a mixture of Afrikaans, English and Xhosa words. It also incorporates elements of the Malay and Dutch - the languages of the Malay slaves and Dutch colonisers respectively. While many people speak and understand this language, it is largely discriminated against, and many writers are too embarrassed to write in this language even though they speak it everyday. There are those, however, who are highly acclaimed for doing precisely the opposite. People like Peter Snyders, Devious, and many other Cape Flats hip-hop artists campaigned vehemently through their work to create a sense of pride in and acceptance for Kaaps. The language has a distinctive hard, yet lyrical sound and is marked with hard sounds and pronounced R's.
music of the Cape Flats
The Cape Flats is probably best known for having given birth to 'Goema' and
the lively rhythms and raucous, irregular beats of the Kaapse Klopse (Cape
Minstrels).
The klopse tradition is deeply entrenched in Cape Flats communities, and
troupes practice for many months every year to compete in the annual Cape
Minstrel Carnival and the competitions held during the festive season. For
interest's sake, the term "klopse" is derived from the word "klop" knock -
and seems to refer to the beating of the gummie (a kind of drum) and other
percussion which dominates the sound of the minstrel music. Although nag
troepe (Malay choirs) march through the City centre and surrounding areas on
New Year's Eve into the early hours of New Year's Day, it is the Tweede Nuwe
Jaar (on January 2) that is the highlight of the Minstrel Carnival.
The most widely-known theory around the origin of the Tweede Nuwe Jaar celebrations and the significance of having the carnival in January is that is was the only time slaves were given time off. So they painted their faces on the day after New Year's Day and entertained their masters. The other theory is that the minstrels, who come largely from the coloured community, use the carnival as a time to celebrate the birth of the coloured nation. The reasoning is this... According to the history books, Dutch coloniser, Jan van Riebeeck arrived in the Cape in April. Without his wife to tame his desires, he took advantage of the black local women. Nine months later the first child of mixed origin, the first coloured child, was born. This is not a popular theory, but its plausible, we think...
Either way, it is safe to say that New Year's in Cape Town goes hand in hand with the Klopse carnival.
And while the Goema is largely recognised to as being distinctly Cape Town, it's roots lie mainly in Latin-American and Brazilian music. Because Cape Town is a port city, and was a popular stopover on the slave route, it is believed that the music of the Cape Flats drew influence from the various types of music that was "imported" through the slave trade which brought people from Brazil.
The most widely-known theory around the origin of the Tweede Nuwe Jaar celebrations and the significance of having the carnival in January is that is was the only time slaves were given time off. So they painted their faces on the day after New Year's Day and entertained their masters. The other theory is that the minstrels, who come largely from the coloured community, use the carnival as a time to celebrate the birth of the coloured nation. The reasoning is this... According to the history books, Dutch coloniser, Jan van Riebeeck arrived in the Cape in April. Without his wife to tame his desires, he took advantage of the black local women. Nine months later the first child of mixed origin, the first coloured child, was born. This is not a popular theory, but its plausible, we think...
Either way, it is safe to say that New Year's in Cape Town goes hand in hand with the Klopse carnival.
And while the Goema is largely recognised to as being distinctly Cape Town, it's roots lie mainly in Latin-American and Brazilian music. Because Cape Town is a port city, and was a popular stopover on the slave route, it is believed that the music of the Cape Flats drew influence from the various types of music that was "imported" through the slave trade which brought people from Brazil.