Kaapse Klopse carnival more than just colourful entertainment

The Cape Town Minstrel Carnival – normally held on 2 January (Tweede Nuwe Jaar), but this year held this past Saturday – is part of South Africa’s fascinating cultural heritage.

It is celebrated by the mixed-race community in the Western Cape – those descended from slaves brought from Africa, Southwest Asia and Indian Ocean territories after the city was settled by the Dutch in the 1650s.

The slaves would be allowed a day off at New Year to celebrate. The tradition continued after slavery was abolished in Cape Town in 1834, with the first formal “Kaapse Klopse” carnival being held in 1907.

Organisers say the carnival is similar to London’s Notting Hill Carnival and is the biggest event of its kind on the African continent.

The celebration is more than just colourful entertainment, though.

It should remind us of the horrors of slavery and, in turn, of the repression of the colonial and apartheid eras, which relegated all people who were not pure white to second-class status in society.

The social melting pot which is the origins of the Cape coloured community should also remind us that South Africa is a beautiful kaleidoscope of race and culture… which makes us bigger than the sum of our parts.

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