Elke Chlora, Wendy, moffie, lettie, pre-op, post-op, galatie, malume en tannie innie land moet hie’ welkom voel …

Sieraaj Ahmed

Gêtsbies en Frulati. Dirty Dancing vir die derde keer by die Luxie in Wynberg. Jou vriend Wanie nooi die hele klas om saam te kom boeka by sy huis innie pwasa. Goodhope gooi ’n moerse jol by Gala en al wat gam is wil daar wees.

Ja … gam is ’n nare nasie. Of hoe?

Naah, not actually. Try again.

There’s a popular (and dangerous) misunderstanding about culture that’s been around for too long. A misunderstanding that equates culture with opera, fine dining in fancy restaurants, even finer wines, and the staring at and appreciation of illegible paintings by long-dead Europeans.

Luckily we South Africans, having gone through the always intense, often bizarre retraining of the past ten years, have begun to realise the truth about culture: that it’s everywhere around us, in everything we see and nearly everything we do.

That small slamse wedding on a Sunday afternoon, with 700 invited guests? That’s culture. ’n Stuk gêtsbie en ’n litre Frulati oppie pavement met jou brasse? Dís culture. Bierboeps en braaivleis? Culture. Xhosa initiation? Culture. Stinja bottle innie jamang? Diep culture, bra.

For various reasons in our country’s crazy past, most South Africans were tricked into believing their particular cultural tics were inferior to the tics of those in positions of power. Thank God Almighty that (as Mariah sang on 1995’s Forever) “those days of love are gone”.

There are existing cultural festivals that cater to various groups in South Africa. The new Suidoosterfees could easily become the designated annual gamfees. My wish for this fees — for the organisers, the performers and the audiences — is that it not be allowed to turn into something as limiting as a mere gamfees. Laat dié fees een wees waar elke Chlora, Wendy, moffie, lettie, pre-op, post-op, galatie, malume en tannie innie land welkom voel.

The Suidoosterfees is a first for the people of Cape Town. Your own opportunity to show off whatever makes you the cultural beast you are. Your own opportunity to soak up some of what makes other Capetonians tick.

So gaan voort en doen wat gam so goed doen: tell all your friends and bring five extra guests. Most importantly: wrap up the kids and pack them in too. Teach them to be proud of who they are and where they come from, but to learn about others always.

And teach them about why Gêtsbies en Frulati belong together.

* Hierdie rubriek het in die Suidoosterfees se koerant Sedoos verskyn.

boontoe / to the top

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