Saturday, after the usual market trip, we completely lucked out and got to go to the South Africa v. Australia rugby match (in which Australia was completely humiliated). I almost understand the rules! The stadium is about a 15-20 minute walk from the Res, so we strolled down with hundreds of other Springbok fans in forest green (this also included a lot of flags waving and honking). Admittedly, rugby is a very ‘white’ sport. It wasn’t integrated until after the 94 elections, but then it became an important part of uniting the country. They were world champions the year the integrated. Still now, though, you’re hard pressed to find a Black fan at a rugby match- it’s just about all white and coloured. We were the standing room only behind a goal post, which made the angle for watching a bit difficult (luckily though, games are only 100 minutes with halftime, so our shins made it through).
I THOUGHT it was that the coloured population was mixed, but it's not that simple, probably because nobody mixes much. Apartheid said
"A member of the Coloured group is:
i) a person who is not a White person or a Bantu, ii) any woman, to whichever race, tribe or class she may belong, between whom and a person who is, in terms of sub-paragraph (i), a member of a Coloured group, there exists a marriage, or who cohabits with such a person, iii) any white man between whom and a woman who in terms of sub-paragraph (i) is a member of the Coloured group, there exists a marriage, or who cohabits with such a woman."
which is about as clear as mud. My last cab driver, who self-identified as coloured, said that they came from different tribes even before colonialism. I'm not sure if that's the case or just the modern perception of racial distinction.
Whats the difference between black and coloured?
ReplyDeleteI THOUGHT it was that the coloured population was mixed, but it's not that simple, probably because nobody mixes much. Apartheid said
ReplyDelete"A member of the Coloured group is:
i) a person who is not a White person or a Bantu,
ii) any woman, to whichever race, tribe or class she may belong, between whom and a person who is, in terms of sub-paragraph (i), a member of a Coloured group, there exists a marriage, or who cohabits with such a person,
iii) any white man between whom and a woman who in terms of sub-paragraph (i) is a member of the Coloured group, there exists a marriage, or who cohabits with such a woman."
which is about as clear as mud. My last cab driver, who self-identified as coloured, said that they came from different tribes even before colonialism. I'm not sure if that's the case or just the modern perception of racial distinction.