Coloureds of Southern Africa have culture (life, influence, speak, living)

[Bennie Bobeje]

Many argue that Coloureds do not have culture. I must caution though that Coloureds have an overt and direct culture. The only difference is that it got methodically estranged from them. Let us look at some obvious elements of Coloured culture. Then the reader will agree that we do not need to look for nuances in order to find their culture.

All peoples of the world have culture - their particular way of living and doing things. No racial group, even of mixed ancestry, is without culture. That is simply ignorant and stupid to say. Just because Coloureds do not strut naked breasts, does not mean they do not have a culture. Here is what constitutes culture which proves that Coloureds of Southern Africa have their own unique culture.

1. All races have language. Most Coloureds speak Afrikaans, either Afrikaaps (in Western Cape) or Noordgrens-/Oranje Rivier Afrikaans. Namibian Coloureds (and Basters) speak a mixture of Oranje Rivier Afrikaans and Standard Afrikaans. The language Afrikaans belongs to Coloureds, but which whites stole from them as we all know by now as proven by academic research findings. Coloureds even have three sub-tribes, which are Cape Coloureds, Northern Coloureds (of whom Namibian Coloureds are part of) and Basters, each of whom have their own dialect of Afrikaans!

2. All races have identity. Though theirs is “Coloured”, Coloureds’ real identity is Khoe/Khoi/Koi and Afrikaner which too have been methodically estranged from them as research shows. Coloureds are commonly referred to as Bruinmense.

3. All races have their particular music, song and musical genres. Coloureds like and make Langarm music, Koortjies and others. Remember the music made by the Kaapse Klopse? We know by now too that Sakie-sakie and Sokkie were systematically estranged from Coloureds too.

4. All races have dance and their particular dance genres. Coloureds have the Riel (in South Africa), Jazz (not the music genre), Langarm, Blues (not the music genre) and others.

5. All races have their own way of cooking and cookery. Think of how Coloured mothers prepare their food and food which is unique to Coloureds though others try their recipes. Even biltong, droëwors, soutvis, smoked fish and the like are part of Coloured culture but which whites methodically estranged from them. Coloureds are generally entertainment-loving people, with exquisite cuisine which is a mixture of Malay, Khoesan and Western cooking. They are great at making roosterbrood, home-made bread, asbrood, aspatat, potbrood, frummelpap, smoked snoek, curry offal, curry bunnies, vetkoek and gemmerbier which are some of their customs of their rich Khoesan traditions for centuries. Bontkos, which is characterized by colourful and flavourful tasty foods and treats, is part of special days such as on Sabbath on Sunday, Christmas, weddings and the like.

6. All races have religion. Coloureds mostly practice Christianity and Islam simply because they partly hail from those cultures too.

7. All races have their particular traditional customs and rites during ceremonies such as birth, baptism, come of age, weddings, death, festivals, etc. Think of how Coloureds do things during these events, the rituals which set them apart from others. They “drink pis” when a baby is born; “maak dak nat” when they move in a new apartment or home and so on.

8. All races have cultural attire. Coloured culture reflects a plethora of cultural gear ranging from island wear to traditional Khoi leather wear to western wear also because of historical cultural influences.

9. All races have history and did not fall from the skies. Coloureds have a very long and rich history since the ancient prehistoric Sangoan, forebears of the indigenous Khoesan of Southern Africa.

10. All races have historical heroes, social leaders, role models, public figures and celebrities. Think of Coloureds' very own leadership starting with Saartjie Baartman and Oude Ram Afrikaner up to today. Thousands upon thousands both in Namibia and South Africa and elsewhere in Southern Africa.

11. All races are indigenous to a certain geographical area. Coloureds are endemic to and originate from Southern Africa and did not fall from the skies. Where else in the world are they found?

12. All races have cultural crafts. Think of the many cultural items Coloured forefathers made but which have been methodically estranged from Coloureds and some of which they still make today such as velskoene, riempiestoele, bokvelmatte, driebeenpotte and much more. It goes without saying that potjie and braais are great widely favoured Coloured traditions too, which others copy.

13. All races have an economic lifestyle. By trade most Coloureds are builders, fishermen and/or subsistence stock farmers. They own small outlets and work in the service sector.

14. All races have subcultures. Coloureds were known for front teeth abstraction for reasons of fashion and gangster pressure but reminiscent of Malay cultural history too. Coloureds who are affectionately referred to as the “Funky People”, love the bling, outdoors and social entertainment lifestyle.

15. All races adhere to one or another political code. Coloureds are generally communal people, meaning that they share with others when it is necessary to do so. God is at the centre of their cultural belief system, yet Coloureds are liberalist thinkers. Ons laat ons nie voorsê nie – net God het daai reg en by ouers is dit ‘n voorreg.

16. All races have their favourite social pastimes. Coloureds are particularly fond of rugby, cricket and athletics and to a lesser extent, soccer and netball. Their kids have a wide array of traditional play, games and rhymes. Coloureds have a rich tradition of legends, mythology and superstition like in any other culture.

As an indigenous Khoesan people, Coloureds of Southern Africa have been methodically, targetly, consistently and goal-directly stolen from, not just of their cultural identity and some cultural elements themselves, but of their indigenous rights and status, land and natural resources, and spiritual resources and peace.

It is clear from the sixteen points above that Coloureds have a place under the sun. They are a united cultural people with identity. They do not have to stand back for others. They should be proud of who they are. I am of them.

B.B. Bobejé, Namibia

[Agbor]

I would say that there are black groups and mixed/black groups in the world who were deliberately cut-off from their various
indigenous African tribal cultures and took on the culture of the dominant new culture and/or developed new Creole cultures.

I would think that the Coloureds developed a Creole culture as they were cut off from their tribal roots, similar to "Black"
Americans, taking on Western ways with a unique twist. Plus I think the Coloureds have some Asian elements also? As I am
American, I am not familiar with South Africa but mostly West Africa.

Who said they didn't have a culture? Are people saying that because they don't have an indigenous tribal culture like the Zulu or Xhosa? even though they are in South Africa? This is interesting.

[Bennie Bobeje]

In the case of Southern African Coloureds with Namibian and South African Coloureds in particular and who are known as the Afrikaner Koi, they retained the greater part of their original culture. Only in the case of points 5, 6, 8 and 16, these indigenous peoples somehow adapted adopted cultural elements but with a unique twist. The greater part of their culture thus remained intact as it was originally. They remained vastly and surprisingly true to their innate tribal roots simply because they remained located in their original geographical surroundings unlike Afro-Americans who were translocated to settle and live in the diaspora.

Not all South African and Namibian Coloureds adopted Asian cultural elements - mostly the Cape Malay which are a subgroup of Cape Coloureds. Northern Coloureds, including Namibian Coloureds and Basters, have virtually nothing in common with Asian cultures accept for the occasional food resipe.

It is generally falsely assumed in the Southern African context that Southern African Coloureds do not have a culture of their own. This false perception has been repeately inculcated all over the subcontinent such that even Coloureds themselves began to believe that they do not have their own special and unique culture even though they practiced the various elements thereof! That is the power of mind control through brainwashing which is what white Afrikaner nationalism aspired to achieve and which they did with resounding success for reasons of getting their hands on the ancestral resources and land of the vastly marginalised, oppressed and suppressed indigenous Afrikaner Khoe.

It is also a known scientific, sociological and historical fact that the longstanding migrant refugees of Zulu and Xhosa and other Bantoid Nguni originate from West Africa and the Great Lakes Region as a result of various interplaying push and pull factors. They are not indigenous to Southern Africa.