Old Takkies Indaba

South African a multi-cultural society much like the US actually the original people here were bushmen which, much like native Americans, were screwed by the immigrants, both whites coming from Europe and Africans coming from the North.

I have never seen South African patriotism, other than in beer commercials, and lets be honest who doesn’t love everyone after knocking back a couple of drinks. Or the odd government commercial telling us all to love each other or love our country but I find these are more for tourists, attracting holidaymakers.

Apartheid, yes the dreaded regime has left an echo resounding “so to speak”, even today. Apartheid,f or those who don’t know was all about separation. Think of it as a school playground, everyone had their own clique and everyone was supposed to know their place in the hierarchy.

Now there is a good reason for my small documentary. This kind of “each to their own” mentality has lingered on.

Now a couple of weeks ago my friend Greg, also a Greek like myself was invited to go to an Afrikaans nightclub. As per standard operating procedure I was called upon to fulfil my duty as wing-man for the evening. I figure he called me because he knew I was the only one adventurous (read stupid) enough to say yes.

Still recovering from a cold or a flu or swine flu or bird flu or mad cow disease or SARS or whatever is the “in” disease right now, and therefore being house bound for a few days, I decided to bite the bullet and head out.

The club is situated in Boksburg west of Johannesburg. A mostly Afrikaans speaking area. It took us a while to find parking apparently unbeknown to us a famous Afrikaans singer was doing his thing that night so it was packed we finally found a space between two cars. Serious heaps without tyres that must have been there for years judging buy the rust and decay on them.

When we got to the door a giant bouncer asked, “cash or freebar” as if we should understand this. After asking for an explanation freebar turned out to be VIP, you get a wristband for a slightly more hefty entryfee and get to drink all the drinks you want. We opted for the normal garden variety entry.

Once we got in… well the best way I can describe it is that it was so much fail it was win. The seediest joint I ever walked into. It was as if we had stepped back into 1985. Mullets were everywhere. We decided to get a couple of drinks before infiltrating the crowd.

We approached the bar, flagged down a bartender and ordered two beers, which they insisted on pouring into plastic cups, turns out the locals often used bottles in fights. At least they were cheap.

The people in this area are the equivalent of hillbillies, and even the music was similar to American country music.

Sitting in the place, which reeked of vomit and listening to songs called “Speedos And Crocs” and the Afrikaans version of “Eye Of The Tiger”. Yes you read right, it was some sad stuff. But the locals were loving it. There were even some emo looking Afrikaners rocking to the music. Imagine emos in the States partying to that kind of music as well as country music. Unheard of man. In fact downright against nature. But these people were truly enjoying themselves. Happy emos? What is going on!

It got me thinking. Each little group has their own unique idea of what it means to be South African, which means there is no real definition.

There is no real South African identity, in my opinion at any rate. I have never particularly felt South African. Don’t get me wrong I like South Africa, an awesome country, but the feeling has just never come. I doubt anyone else has the feeling either. It shows too, by the fact that people seem to leave the country in droves every time things go awry. People are too centralised in their own groups.

It is a reason to be jealous of Americans who somehow, even though a state of immigrants, manage to gain some kind of patriotism that causes them to hang flags outside of their homes.

Or maybe that’s just it. The diversity is the South African identity, and what makes South Africans unique is the fact that each group has its own culture. Maybe I’ve been mistaken about doubting the existence of a South African identity all along. Who knows.