I Love Cape Town. I Think
The Mother City. The Cape of Goodhope. Cape Town. There was a time when I would have been the first one singing her praises. "We have one the wonders of the world, Table Mountain". "We have the most beautiful beaches in the world". "Millions of tourist visit Cape Town every year". But the truth is, I've only been to the top of Table Mountain once because it costs almost R300.00. I only see the beach a few times a year, because it's far and petrol is expensive. And the only thing I feel for tourists, is indifference.
Cape Town, for all it's natural beauty, kinda sucks. It's expensive, pretty racist, greatly unequal and it smell funny. My reality is not the pristine beaches, ocean drives, and Woolies coffee. It's backyard-dwellers, self-loathing dogs, and massive sand dunes where people are robbed of their teeth and their dignity.
When it comes down to it, it seems that the vast, breathtaking loveliness belongs only to a privileged few. Those with money and perfect English accents. Basically, white people. Yep, I said it. And no, it's not racist. Apartheid, which was in place for the better part of a century, pretty much allowed white people to take what they wanted and everyone had to just be cool with that.
I know what your thinking,"but apartheid is over, you can't still blame white people". Really? Can't I? Democracy is not the same as equality. The coloured and black people who were forcibly removed from their homes weren't thrown "Welcome back" parties by the people who sentences them to life on the flats. White people from Constantia didn't go: "Oops we thought you liked it on the flats, but don't worry here's your house back". All they did was build higher fences and make some black "friends".
This is not new information I'm sure, but what really (sorry for the cliche)opened my eyes was a particular Outsurance ad. Yes the insurance company that some how made black face acceptable, showed me the truth. The ad basically shows a upper-middle class family living in Noordhoek, whose lives have been made awesome by an insurance company.
Sounds innocent enough and most people wouldn't see anything wrong with it. The dramatic aerial views of the coastline and the images of beautiful house in the mountains and people riding their horses on the beach that are supposed to inspire. But I don't feel inspired, just annoyed.
The problem is not the ad itself, it's that subtle message you will only understand if live on the flats. Because the fact is the people in the whimsical houses and their horses trotting along the beach, don't look like me, or the people around me. They're white. I know, it's not like Cape Town is the only place with rich white people and we also have horses on the flats, but they're not the same really. The problem with this city though, is that we either complain amongst ourselves, or just accept that we will always be stuck at the bottom. Captonians, of all hues are pretty much mute about it. And just when we really start to think about how messed up things are, someone points to the Mountain and we forget what we talking about completely.
Yes, there's no denying that this is, physically, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But we're so obsessed with the outer shell, that we don't even notice that she treats us like shit most of the time. Or worse, like we don't belong. And thanks to Outsurance, I know that as a black/ coloured/ non-white, this city is not mine, I just live here.
Cape Town, for all it's natural beauty, kinda sucks. It's expensive, pretty racist, greatly unequal and it smell funny. My reality is not the pristine beaches, ocean drives, and Woolies coffee. It's backyard-dwellers, self-loathing dogs, and massive sand dunes where people are robbed of their teeth and their dignity.
When it comes down to it, it seems that the vast, breathtaking loveliness belongs only to a privileged few. Those with money and perfect English accents. Basically, white people. Yep, I said it. And no, it's not racist. Apartheid, which was in place for the better part of a century, pretty much allowed white people to take what they wanted and everyone had to just be cool with that.
I know what your thinking,"but apartheid is over, you can't still blame white people". Really? Can't I? Democracy is not the same as equality. The coloured and black people who were forcibly removed from their homes weren't thrown "Welcome back" parties by the people who sentences them to life on the flats. White people from Constantia didn't go: "Oops we thought you liked it on the flats, but don't worry here's your house back". All they did was build higher fences and make some black "friends".
This is not new information I'm sure, but what really (sorry for the cliche)opened my eyes was a particular Outsurance ad. Yes the insurance company that some how made black face acceptable, showed me the truth. The ad basically shows a upper-middle class family living in Noordhoek, whose lives have been made awesome by an insurance company.
Sounds innocent enough and most people wouldn't see anything wrong with it. The dramatic aerial views of the coastline and the images of beautiful house in the mountains and people riding their horses on the beach that are supposed to inspire. But I don't feel inspired, just annoyed.
The problem is not the ad itself, it's that subtle message you will only understand if live on the flats. Because the fact is the people in the whimsical houses and their horses trotting along the beach, don't look like me, or the people around me. They're white. I know, it's not like Cape Town is the only place with rich white people and we also have horses on the flats, but they're not the same really. The problem with this city though, is that we either complain amongst ourselves, or just accept that we will always be stuck at the bottom. Captonians, of all hues are pretty much mute about it. And just when we really start to think about how messed up things are, someone points to the Mountain and we forget what we talking about completely.
Yes, there's no denying that this is, physically, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But we're so obsessed with the outer shell, that we don't even notice that she treats us like shit most of the time. Or worse, like we don't belong. And thanks to Outsurance, I know that as a black/ coloured/ non-white, this city is not mine, I just live here.
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