Kasi’s are not all the same…P.E ROCKS TOO!!
Our Jozi girl TOBY made a a rare move out of crazy Joburg to the buzz of Kwa-Dwesi in Port Elizabeth (aka Nelson Mandela Bay), she was suprised by what she found there and realised that, coming from Joburg she truly is world’s apart from the PE peeps – she fills us in on why she thinks thats happening:
Ekasi (township), Kwa-Dwesi in Port Elizabeth, was so refreshing – the street…
s were abuzz with people walking around, women selling, children playing, young people hanging…out. People always say kasi’s are the same...naah! FOR ME this was a new experience, the way I see it, it can never be the same, the people – the way they think and see things, can never be the same from kasi to kasi because although the experiences may be similar, they can never be truly experienced, perceived and interpreted in the same way.
I think this is due to the historical background of the place and its people that informs the way we see and perceive things today. Every region has its own historical context which people in that region can relate to and understand through the social and political events which have taken place in that particular area or region.
As an outsider to the Kwa-Dwesi environment, I experienced it differently to any other Kasi I have been to in Jozi, particularly Soweto, (where I was born and stayed there for some time). Even in Jozi, when I visit another Kasi, say Vosloorus or Alexandra, the experience in those places somewhat differs from each other. There are still some places in Alex, still declared no-go areas because of the violent crimes against outsiders to Alexandra.
It is refreshing to experience first hand how other people experience life because even though you cannot relate, you get a different point of view to that of your own and that teaches us to be humble open-minded human beings if you go there without judgements and fear.
You are probably wondering why I was touched if I am black too…right? Well, I last lived in Soweto in 1989 and I remember a particular incident in Junior High where my fellow schoolmates were teasing me that I do not know what it is like to live eKasi because I stay in a ‘suburb’. At the time, I was living in Spruitview, known then as a ‘black suburb’ because it was far from any township. What is ironic is that we were all in a co-ed, ‘model C’ or English school but they thought I was a coconut and a snob.
Some Kasi people see other black people who do not stay eKasi as ‘sell-outs’, which is odd because I reckon that if you, want to improve the quality of your life, you should also consider changing your immediate environment. If it does not inspire you anymore, there is nothing wrong with seeking something more challenging and different to what you are accustomed. In 2000, my family and I moved to Woodmead, Jo’burg’s northern suburbs.
I’ve been learning English since I was 9 years old, since then it has been improving, so much so that my mother tongue, (Xhosa) became estranged to me. That is also because I grew up in Jozi, where there is a mix masala of language, you are exposed to 70% of South Africa’s eleven official languages and you learn to speak them. (Not forgetting the Jo’burg Zulu which should also be made official because it is a language on its own)
When I came to P.E, I remember thinking that “Oh gosh my…how am I ever going to survive here because I experience semantic noise every time people speak Xhosa (and because they did not want to compromise by speaking English). The things that are very normal to me are extremely abnormal to them. For example, when I greet people I would say “Heita Mfwethu/ Mpintshi”, meaning ‘hello friend’, which is commonly used in Jo’burg when you greet someone, whether they are your friend or not. However, here, the Xhosa people would get offended and tell me that “I am not an ‘mpinch or an mfwethu’…this is not Jo’burg”. On the other hand, when you refer to the men, you cannot say ‘amaOutie’, which is also common for a collective of ‘men/guys’, they would say, “I am not an ‘Outie’, I’m a man”, especially those that have been to circumcision school.
I used to be frustrated at the narrow-mindedness of the people in PE because the social boundaries are still very much intact. The differences between the genders, and the expectations of women and men got to me. Most of the guys here do not accept that men and women can be friends on a plutonic level because it’s either black or white; either you are a girlfriend or just another girl they know as a classmate, not someone whom they can hang out with. This would perturb me because what I remember about Soweto and Jo’burg today is that you can be friends with, and hang out with anybody you wish.
When I was much younger and the neighborhood kids played on the street, both boys and girls would play together whatever game we decided to play on that particular day. This is where the historical context of the different Kasi’s comes in because I can see that in PE, the boys play separately from the girls and arguably, the only time when they meet is when they are getting married.
Everything the Port Elizabethans did, was so different to my way of life, for instance I came down with a fever and cold one time so I went to the doctor. The air conditioners were making me colder, therefore I requested the doctor to switch it off, she was quiet amazed, she asked me where I was from and said to me that usually PE people do not speak out when they are unhappy about something, they are submissive and let things be. I found that to be very odd.
I always saw myself as an outsider in PE, never as one of ‘them’. I mean being from as big a city as Jo’burg where everyone wants to be. It is without a doubt that Jozians have some…have a bit…they kinda…or might feel that they are somewhat more experienced, open minded, and knowledgeable about things that the rest of the population are not aware of because if we look at it this way, like a big earthquake, everything starts in Jo’burg and reverberates down to the rest of the country. [ED: Love that analogy – sharp TOBY]! This is why Jozians would feel that they are more advantaged than everybody else in the country.
However, whereever I go and even one day if I find myself settling into the PE mentality, there is still no place like Jozi…yeah! GP the place to be
PIC COURTESY IBHAYI
