The "Kaapse Klopse", Cape Coloureds and Cape Town

So, my mother and I went to Cape Town yesterday to watch the "Kaapse Klopse" or as foreigners might know it - the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival.  Some people compare it to Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, but to be honest it isn't nearly as large or impressive.  I've never been to Carnival (I really hope to go one day), so I can't compare the two.  I can, however, tell you about what I saw and experienced yesterday.  I can tell you about our Coloured community.  I can tell you about Cape Town.

First and foremost I must talk about the term Coloured (or Colored, as our American friends would misspel it :) ).  In the South African census, which takes place every ten years and the most recent in 2011, you get 4 options in which you indicate your race or ethnicity - White, Black, Coloured or Indian/Asian.  It seems pretty limited right?  Some will obviously question the validity of the idea of categorising people according to physical characteristics, but that's a debate for another day. There are mainly historical/cultural reasons for the four choices.  Back in the Apartheid years, government decided to divide the populace into 4 main groups.  Whites, because they were of European descent.  Black, because they were the natives. Indians, because they were descendants of Indian immigrants in the late 1800's.  Coloureds, well... they were a little bit of everything.  Coloureds are as uniquely South Africa as braai on a Saturday or a Vuvuzela donned in a myriad of colours blaring in Orlando Stadium.  They cannot trace their ancestry to a single ethnicity in a faraway land, as, for example, most white Australians could.  They are the product of the confluence of peoples from all over the world who have gathered in Cape Town over the past 350 years.  If you thought pandas were special because they are white, black and Asian. Coloureds are all that and even more. 

The incredible diversity of these people is probably one of the most striking things of the Kaapse Klopse.  Over 60 000 people (mostly Coloureds) jam packed the old narrow streets of the Cape Town city centre.  There is a constant buzz, constant movement and you don't see the same thing twice (except Monster or YMCMB caps).  Children climb the barricades along the streets to better see the Minstrels passing by.  Old friends share a laugh.  Older women dressed in their Sunday best enjoy a wine in the January heat.  You turn your gaze to the flow of people behind you and the Coloureds's diversity is apparent.  A short man with mostly African features walks by.  A tall woman with distinctly Asian eyes passes.  A child with skin lighter than my own runs by.  Scientists say that African populations (East and West) have the most genetic diversity of any other population in the world.  I hope that they come to Cape Town one day and see that they were wrong all along! 
Not only are the people diverse the Minstrels passing by are colourful and sparkly.  Generally children as young a five would dance at the front of the troop.  The age of the Minstrel members increases as they pass by.  Towards the end of a group you would find men and woman slowly dancing along at the grand old ages of 80 and upward.  They've been dancing in the Klopse since they were five year old long before the Nazis shook the world. 

My mother and I left well before the real party started.  We were both left with warm feelings and a greater appreciation for our Coloured people.  The Klopse was a family day, yet they did not waiver for a moment to give my mother and I, not only non-family members but also white people, a seat and offer us sweets. 

Carnival might be far better orchestrated, more impressive and something more fitting to record on your iPad.  The Kaapse Klopse is, on the other hand, something you would rather have more of in your live - family, friends, love, hospitality and joy.

Want onse bruin mense ken van paartie!
TheLonelyman

Photo credits to my mother