Cape culture returns with the klopse carnival, Malay choirs

CAPE Town’s unique summer culture is making a long-awaited and loud return this year with the resumption of the Tweede Nuwe Jaar march, minstrel competitions and Malay choir road marches after the Covid-19 hiatus.

In a media briefing yesterday, the City together with minstrel and Malay choir associations announced that the cultural celebrations and all their events were resuming in full swing this summer thanks to the support of the City and the Cape Flats community.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said: “These events represent the rich heritage of our beautiful city and they mean so much to thousands of Capetonians who have grown up with the culture associated with minstrels and Malay choirs. Not seeing them performing over the last summers has left a cultural hole in Cape Town.”

He said the City had signed a threeyear agreement with the organisers to provide financial support, event services and waive the costs for the use of City facilities for these events.

Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association (KKKA) director Muneeb Gambino said: “In order to understand the difficulty that members have had over the past two years, one has to understand that this is a 115-year-old formal carnival, and never before has the carnival had to stand still, other than for a brief period during World War II.

“Of course, now we are back and absolutely excited for the festivities. We have been preparing for the organised chaos that is the carnival and we are confident that we will deliver the spectacle that Cape Town deserves,” Gambino said.

Keep the Dream forum president Shamiel Benjamin said that besides the culture, music and dance shared during this period, the clothing factories and families who designed the costumes and uniforms for the performers are also now back in business.

The first of the events, the Cape Malay Choir Board Choral competition, will be taking place at the Good Hope Christian Centre in Ottery this Saturday with competitions running until the end of October.

The Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association (KKKA) Minstrel competitions will take place throughout January while the “2de Nuwe Jaar” Minstrel Parade will return to its traditional date of January 2.

The Keep the Dream Choral competition will also be taking place in January and February 2023.

| AYANDA NDAMANE African News Agency (ANA) THE City with the Minstrel and Malay Choir associations hosted a media session on their cultural competitions, New Year’s Eve and Tweede Nuwe Jaar celebrations. They announced that there would be a full return of all events this summer in Cape Town after two years of Covid-19 restrictions.