Tour of Bo-Kaap celebrates heritage
FINDING meaning in our days and connecting with one another’s culture were the driving forces behind a Bo-Kaap Heritage Day Eid-ul-Adha walking tour yesterday, said tour guide Mohammed Groenewald.
Eid-ul-Adha is also called the Feast of Sacrifice and it is the second of two religious holidays celebrated by Muslims worldwide each year. Yesterday, Groenewald led tourists on a walking tour that tells the story of Islam in the Cape.
The tour takes in the Bo-Kaap Museum which showcases South Africa’s Islamic heritage in the Bo-Kaap neighbourhood, Groenewald said.
“It has multi-coloured houses established centuries back by freed slaves, many of whom hailed from Southeast Asia and practised the Muslim faith. These former slaves became known as the Cape Malay.”
He said he believed that Cape Muslims were integral in the development of the Afrikaans language.
“That was a version of Dutch simplified for easier communication between the Dutch settlers and workers.”
Community Organiser of Boorhaanol Islam Movement, Abdul Bassier, said Eidul-Adha honoured the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, as an act of submission to God’s command.
“Before he could, God then intervened, through his angel Gabriel, and informs Abraham that his sacrifice had already been accepted.”
He explained how today, sacrifice was still practised: “The meat from the sacrificed animal is preferred to be divided into three parts.
The family retains one third of the share; another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbours; and the remaining third is given to the poor and needy.”
He said the remaining meat would be distributed to poorer communities.
Vice-chairwoman of Street Smart Melanie Burke said that the tour reminded MONUMENT: Mohammed Groenewald explains the significance of the Kramat site in Bo-Kaap to the touring group yesterday. her that all cultures matter: “We find more appropriate responses that are offered to us by other people. They bring the most significant consequential narrative to life. It enables us to craft our future story as South Africans.”
The tour culminated in Bo-Kaap resident Faldela Tolker’s “famous Cape Malay three course lunch”. She takes tourists on a tour of the taste buds, explaining the origins of the meals she serves.
“All the food is prepared by me, and cooked with love.
For starters you are having samoosas and chilli bites. The main course is chicken curry and rice and finally dessert is tea and koeksisters.”