GARIEP DEAD AND GOOD.
Once upon a time a father had this to say to his son on his 18th birthday:
“As you turn 18 today, forget your break ups, forget your enemies, cherish your friends, cherish the memories, forget your nightmares, forget your failures, cherish your love, cherish life’s flavor” What do we say to an 18 year old who just died right after becoming an adult? Perhaps what we should do is to look into the life lived by an 18th year old, to get a sense of what message to relate post his death.
Our sacred Afrikan culture teaches us that “never speak ill of the death” Now the question will be, what do we say to the death that did nothing but hoist subtle flag of exclusivity and broederbond? What do we say to the death that contributed nothing but constantly reminded us of our inferiority? Perhaps John 8:32 will give us direction where it says “Then you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free”
Gariep at a glance:
On the 23rd January 2018 Gariep Festival executive manager Bernice Versluis announced that the festival will come to an end after 18 years of successful events. The Gariep Festival or Gariep Kunstefees was an annual cultural event started in 2000 by Theuns Zimmerman, Marius Nagel and Corne Thompson.
According to Versluis the cultural event was a platform that afforded space for “the arts, local and national but also an economic and tourism injection for the province” per its annual reports.
Reasons for the cancellation of the flagship event was said to be “lack of funding” and lack of “political, economic and financial support” It was further reported that the festival had a wide impact as it brought approximately 49 000 visitors during the 2016 event to the city of Kimberley. Importantly generated between an estimated R15 Million and 19 million for local businesses. How this changed the lives of ordinary citizens in Galeshewe and other neighbouring townships? Remain to be scientifically established at this juncture nothing will be taken away from the rapports on the festival.
Gariep Kunstefees as is commonly known, is an Afrikaans cultural event that received millions of rands from the Sol Plaatje Municipality and various local and national government departments.
The festival is premised on the preservation, commodification and expansion of Afrikaans culture. Often has been cloaked with fancy terms such as “tourism attraction” “job opportunities” “SMME development” and “opportunities for artists” in honesty it is a ploy to source funds to retain broederbond agenda post democratic dispensation. Rejection of Afrikaans in the 1970s in Soweto was not on the basis of black people who didn’t want to speak the language, it was the imperial nature of the language and its culture on another group of people. Thus the collapse and total cancellation of this unsustainable subtle imperial event warrants nothing but jubilation .The strategies and tactics of broederbond or one can say white monopoly capital have been changed now, the festival sought to make the majority of people in the Sol Plaatje Local Municipality an appendage to the Afrikaans language and culture, moreover it retained the distorted demographic representation by concentrating the “cultural event” in the city. When in fact the majority of people residing in the municipality are black!
The township such as Galeshewe and others had to spectate and be on the periphery of city’s flagship “cultural event” whilst their monies contributed significantly to the event. Isnt this a true reflection of how “Kimberley Big Hole” came to be? For one the entire hole was dug on the backs and sweat of Afrikan workers, while the proceeds goes straight to the white people. The diamonds went to create an empire for Cecil Rhodes and others while thousands to millions died under rocks and debris of the mine.
Gariep Festival is not that explicit in its modus operandi, it is subtle and brutal, for instance the majority of performing artists and productions at the festival for the past 17 years has been Afrikaans inclined with a dash of Afrikan acts. The event was founded on the premise of Afrikaans culture finding an expression in arts and entertainment not to appreciate the distinctive qualities of Kimberley. It alienated most of the creative productions in the greater part of the municipal area. It reduced job opportunities for Afrikans to minimal work opportunities such as security work, while the main contractors where white.
The highlight was when the epitome of Apartheid FF plus was shocked to find out exclusively Afrikaans event will end in 2018, it said “it was huge blow to Afrikaans” Which vindicate the sentiments herein that the event was nothing but a pad for Afrikaans inclined entertained at the expense of Afrikan majority’s purse. Now the question henceforth is what is to be done? To bury Gariep and all other cultural ornaments of subtle broederbondism in the ash can of history. Reimagine the cultural contribution of arts and entertainment in Sol Plaatje Municipality. The government and art practitioners will have to reinvent the supply chain or value chains of the art scene in the Northern Cape, because that’s often an area that still needs a complete overhaul.
Gariep’s demise is a wake-up call for backwardness and exclusivity.
Coloniality must be cancelled
Gariep is Dead and Good.
We don’t mourn we celebrate!
John 8:32!
