Last Friday, I attended an important event at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town, where politicians revealed their manifesto and promised numerous things to voters.
What I noticed was that after 30 years of democracy, the Coloured community can say much more than others in South Africa in terms of equality.
They were squeezed in the middle during the apartheid period but still lived between White and Black.
Their contribution to South Africa is not less than that of the White or Black community.
Apartheid, historically practised in South Africa, can be theorised as a system that positioned individuals in a challenging position, characterised by a “not White enough, not Black enough” dilemma.
The apartheid regime enforced racial classifications, leaving individuals who did not fit neatly into predefined categories facing social and legal discrimination.
This dichotomy created an oppressive environment where people experienced exclusion and marginalisation based on arbitrary racial criteria.
The apartheid regime enforced a rigid classification system, dividing people into racial categories with legal and social consequences.
The Coloured community emerged as a distinct group, neither fully accepted by the White minority nor integrated seamlessly into the Black majority.
The imposed racial classifications create a sense of not truly fitting into either side of the racial divide, leading to a unique struggle to forge a self-defined identity amid societal expectations.
It is strange that while South African Muslims of Turkish descent were classified as Cape Malay or Coloured, Christian or Jewish citizens of Turkish origin were classified as White in apartheid South Africa.
In other words, while Shukri Effendi, a Turkish Muslim, had to study at Trafalgar High School, Reginald Remzi-Bey, a Christian Turk of the same skin colour and ethnicity, attended SACS and pursued medicine at the University of Cape Town.
Discrimination and prejudice persist, as individuals from the Coloured and Malay community face exclusion or limited access to resources, employment, and education.
@capeargus_news "We under this government is destined to become nothing more than criminals, and nothing more than the feeders of the correctional service system." These are the words of Fadiel Adams of the National Coloured Congress at at the debate with political parties hosted by Independent Media at the Artscape on Friday. #yougetwhatyouvotefor ♬ original sound - The Cape Argus
Therefore, the Coloured community, including Khoisan descendants, is still not properly represented at the National Assembly of South Africa in 2024.
The election on May 29 means a lot for South Africans, but probably due to the bad administration of the ANC and DA, they seriously lost votes in the last decade.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a chance to ask questions to representatives of the parties, but if I could, the question I was going to ask the DA representative is this: A few years ago, there were stands in Bo-Kaap streets on weekends where I used to buy samosas and cookies. Not anymore because of the discouraging policy of the DA municipality.
The DA’s Reagan Allen on crime, the devolution of policing powers and more… #IndependentTheBigIssues #ElectionDebateWC pic.twitter.com/7vNAft8oC4
However, the same municipality didn’t waste any time in punishing Bo-Kaap residents with a penalty for painting their houses with Palestinian flags and graffiti.
I would have inquired of the DA representative whether their party priorities assisting Bo-Kaap residents in securing improved street opportunities to foster small businesses in the city's most vibrant quarter, or if they are penalising the inhabitants of a 400-year-old district to make Zionist supporters happy.
* Halim Gençoğlu.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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