Normally, nights in the Cape Town neighbourhood of Bo-Kaap are quiet: there are no bars and few restaurants in the area, and many residents go to sleep early in order to rise for the first call to prayer at dawn.
But on summer nights in November and December a cacophony of brass horns blown fervently and drums beaten methodically may disrupt this usual calm. The sound and its meaning are unmistakable: the minstrels are here. Troupes appear unannounced and disappear as quickly as they come in order to evade police, giving residents just a glimpse of the glittering, boisterous festivities to come.
These illegal midnight interludes, which take place in the months preceding the minstrels’ annual January 2 or Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade, embody the history, spirit of, and contention facing the tradition. As much a part of Cape Town as are sundowners on Signal Hill, gatsbies (filled bread rolls) and the Cape Argus bike tour, the carnival is perpetually caught between being a celebrated, almost mystified event and an annoying, if not illegal, activity.
The Cape Town Carnival also includes performances by Malay choirs on New Year’s Eve and Christmas choirs on Christmas Eve. Groups of minstrels and choirs also compete against each other in January and February.
The carnival has its roots in the late 19th century, when troupes made up of slaves mimicked African-American minstrel groups on tour in South Africa. The minstrels soon became an integral part of the Cape Town culture, with troupes marching on January 2 to celebrate the slaves’ one day off a year and, later, the abolition of slavery.
Celebratory defiance
According to Lalou Meltzer, director of social history collections at Iziko Museums of South Africa and brainchild of Ghoema and Glitter: New Year Carnival in Cape Town, the first museum exhibition on the tradition (which opened in 2010), this history of celebratory defiance is an important part of the carnival. Kicked out of the central business district and other newly considered “white” neighbourhoods under the Group Areas Act of 1950, minstrel troupes, primarily made up of coloureds and some blacks, continued the tradition in the Cape Flats, with some keeping their original names, such as the Claremont Coronations, now based in Gugulethu.
The groups were banned from marching in the city during apartheid and, despite the first official carnival taking place at the Green Point Stadium in the early 20th century, were kicked out of the stadium when the neighbourhood was declared “white” in 1968. They were only allowed to resume festivities in the stadium in 1979, but tensions between the government and minstrels only began to ease under the new dispensation.
In 1996, Nelson Mandela attended the parade in Green Point Stadium, in his own minstrel suit made up of ANC colours.
Despite years of campaigning, it wasn’t until 2012 that the minstrels were allowed to conduct the march along their preferred, historic route from District Six to Bo-Kaap. “For people who were kicked out of town, to follow that route … which traces the history of the community and connects working class Cape Town [is] very emotional. It’s bittersweet,” explains Meltzer.
After a series of battles with the City, this route is now considered “permanent”, said Dave Bryant, councillor for ward 77, which includes the City Bowl. Minstrels are only allowed to march on January 2, but must annually apply for permission to do so, a fact that members bemoan given the carnival’s long tradition. Some troupes from the Cape Flats illegally march in Bo-Kaap as practice for January 2 and a way to “reclaim the city and share the community”, said Meltzer.
Other battles continue today. While the City sees the tradition as an integral part of Cape Town culture and history, it also sports a notoriously combative past with the minstrels. In the lead-up to each year’s carnival, media reports are awash with harsh words from minstrels and officials alike, with the former accusing the latter of hindering the annual march and competitions, and capitalising on minstrels’ hard work to promote tourism — up to 100 000 spectators were expected at this year’s event — and the City accusing the minstrels of rowdiness, debauchery and, sometimes, violence.
Thug life
Bryant said that the history of gangsterism associated with the carnival has made it difficult for the City to be fully supportive. He claimed that gangs are “very heavily associated” with the January 2 event and weapons had been confiscated from minstrels in all recent carnivals. As a result, the event requires increased safety and security measures from the City.
“The nagtroepe [night troupes] and the Christmas bands are very peaceful and quiet, but it’s the minstrels parade that has traditionally caused issues,” he said. “There are people drinking and smoking drugs … there’s been violence and gangsterism during the marches, there were complaints of people urinating on buildings during the parade.”
Although minstrel troupes don’t deny that gangsters do sometimes participate in festivities, they say that a heavy association of gangs with minstrels is unfair and inaccurate.
“The minstrels have got a stigma to them — that it’s a gang thing and a drug merchant thing and it’s not all entirely true because we work against the violent part of things,” said Faidel Gasant, chief executive of the Ashwin Willemse group of communities, which is responsible for the Orient Cape Minstrels troupe.
“You will find gangsters in the troupes, but it doesn’t mean that they’re going to have gang fights. People from all walks of life will join the minstrels and all you need to do is control it.”
Some troupe owners say that the carnival should be seen as a positive opportunity to keep children off the street and away from gangs. Troupes spend months preparing for the parade and competitions and rehearsals take place several times a week, offering structure to the lives of troupe members, many of them children. “I can use [the minstrels] to get kids off the street, to keep them busy, which is important because of what is happening in our communities today,” said Gasant, who coaches football when he’s not organising his troupe. “The minstrels and the football together, we have to do this. If we don’t, we’re going to get more kids doing bad things.”
Youth members of the Heideveld Entertainers said that their participation in the carnival not only keeps them occupied, but also provides them with a safe space, friends and a sense of pride.
“I sing in the choir and it gives me something to do,” said 17-year-old Leanne Warth, from Manenberg. “I’m proud to be a minstrel because it’s a sport … We practise really hard. Sometimes we practise for four hours a day.”
But Bryant isn’t convinced that the minstrels can provide a way to diminish gangsterism. “Gang-related activities quieten down during the festive season because gangs are involved in ‘festive activities’,” he said. “But that only happens once a year … In terms of having an effect on the social problems of the community — tik, gangsterism, violence — all of those intrinsic social problems, I don’t think the minstrels themselves would solve that … You have to focus on the core of the problem.”
Counting the costs
Negative associations and concerns aside, the City said it promotes the tradition, pointing to the R3.5-million cumulative budget for the December 24, December 31 and January 2 events as evidence. This figure has risen from the R1-million spent previously. According to Grant Pascoe, mayoral committee member for tourism, events and marketing, it is “the largest contribution that the City makes to any one single event in its event budget”.
Additionally, each year the City gives R350 000 for competitions and R6-million is given by the national department of arts and culture, an unnamed corporate sponsor and the provincial government to support “select minstrel organisations” and to transport minstrels to and from the January 2 event. The City also hires an event organiser to keep things running smoothly, orderly and on time.
But not everyone is happy with the City’s approach to the carnival. A spat has ensued between the City and the Cape Town minstrels carnival association over the hiring of the events organiser, with the association saying that the tender process was “irregular” and “flawed”.
The association also put in a bid for tender, hoping to be able to continue to run the January 2 event as they have done previously.
“Members put in huge amounts of money and effort to make it a success and event organisers or promoters put nothing in towards the minstrels,” said Kevin Momberg, chief executive officer of the association. “This is why we are upset and saying it is unfair: because our members are 90% from the disadvantaged communities.”
Momberg said that the association could stage the event more cheaply and provide direct financial support to minstrel troupes.
The association has appealed the City’s decision to give the job of organising the event to an outside company, Za Fanzone, but the City stands by its decision. Bryant said that an “outside” organisation could help to diffuse tensions between different minstrel groups, ensure objectivity and improve efficiency.
“The City is trying to be a facilitator to make sure the event is safe and that it starts on time … that everything is finalised and sorted beforehand so that it runs well on the day,” he said.
“But everything else is left to the minstrels. The City has no say over the cultural capital of the march; it’s totally up to them.”
Meltzer said that historic battles between the City and the troupes had left a sour taste in minstrels’ mouths, easily leading to grievances and squabbles. “[The City] has jacked itself up a bit now, but the damage has been done over the past few years,” she said.
Financial aid
Lily Ford, troupe owner of the Heideveld Entertainers, criticised the City for spending most of the allotted budget on infrastructure and security, with little money going to troupes themselves.
“They say they give funding, but we don’t see the money,” she said. “They do fund the march on January 2, but the money is for disaster management, not for building up the troupes throughout the year.”
In addition to providing costumes for members who cannot afford it, some troupes, such as the Entertainers, also provide food for members at practices and transport from members’ homes to rehearsal locations.
Ford said she needs R200 000 for the troupe every year, and relies on support from the community to make ends meet. Support from the City, such as arranging and paying for transport to and from rehearsals, would make a world of difference.
“One bus a day costs me R2 500,” said Ford. “And I can’t ask these children to bring bus fare because they don’t have, and I have to look after them food-wise because their parents don’t have [money] to buy something … Even just R30 000 [a year] would make a huge difference.”
Larger troupes look to sponsorship to support the festivities and spectators will see some performers hoisting banners of their sponsors, the most notable being Shoprite, Santam, Die Burger and Ashwin Willemse.
Pascoe said that the City would work with minstrel troupes to “investigate ways of increasing funding through income generation through a variety of commercial options” in 2013, including potentially commercialising the ghoema drum, used to keep that fast, steady beat associated with the carnival.
“The City hopes to raise the potential of the minstrels and choirs to build it up as a social and economic development opportunity for the participants,” he said.
Already, preparations for the annual events, and the events themselves, provide informal and formal employment for thousands of people across the Cape Flats. The likes of Gasant, Ford and Momberg see the carnival as a way to bring more money into the community, through sponsorship and providing new economic opportunities for poor communities. Hats for Africa, connected to the minstrels carnival association and responsible for making outfits for thousands of minstrel troupes and choirs each year, employs about 40 people every year.
“This is about income generation. This is about supporting our communities in places with high unemployment. This is about setting a good example,” said Ford.
But more than anything, she said, this is about tradition. When asked why she spends so much time, and money, on her entertainers, Ford answered: “My father lived in Observatory before they were forcibly removed. His mother used to take them to the minstrels. And he would take me when I was little … This is about my culture.”
For more pictures of the Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade watch the slideshow at mg.co.za/minstrels