Rest in peace, Sathima. I will eternally regret not introducing myself when I saw you at your husband's concert in Cape Town. You are a master of emoting who adds depths of soul to any jazz ballad. Check out "The Man I Love," too.
Over a month or two later, after saying we'll meet up one night and then not contacting each other, she invited me to join her and some of her close friends. Now, anyone who knows me can tell I am not a 'nightlife' person, but in the interest of study and getting to know her better, I agreed. Furthermore, because UCT is still majority white and the class/racial inequalities in South Africa basically means most of the black students are from middle-class or elite backgrounds, it was an opportunity to spend more time with the 'black diamonds' (middle-class and wealthy blacks, largely from Johannesburg, who study, work, and live in Cape Town) I rarely interacted with off campus. Indeed, it was an interesting experience, and they reminded me of my brother, Sizwe, except he came from a working-class or lower middle-class family that lived 3 hours away from Johannesburg. Sizwe's racial politics and musical interests were quite different, however, and reflected his Pan-Africanist sympathies.
Anywho, I decided to meet up with the aforementioned group of 'black diamonds' at a bar/club in Observatory. Can't recall the name, but I believe the establishment is known for rock music. After spending ten-twenty minutes looking for them, we met at the top floor of the establishment, which played dubstep, hip-hop, and electronica-styled music. Initially I regretted going, because I had to pay at least (it might have been even more) R30 just to get in. But out of boredom (I had no other plans for that evening) and curiosity, I decided to pay and saw her immediately. Her friends, unsurprisingly, were also 'black diamonds' from Johannesburg or its environs.
Moving on, the group consisted of the following: one tall, yellow-brown complected man who was a good dancer, a pretty but somewhat 'thick' woman, another good-looking woman who was stylishly dressed and more traditionally 'effeminate' than the previous beauty, and last but not least, the woman I met that night in Obz with her partner. They were okay dancers (but hey, neither am I), save the tall, wiry guy, who put them to shame. Each one was of means or from comfortable backgrounds, and they clearly enjoyed themselves quite a bit. They bought a lot of drinks, danced nearby each other while the one other male in our party put us all to shame. The music was not my cup of tea, consisting largely of dubstep and electronic garbage popular in the US and parts of Europe. The club's dancefloor was quite mixed, though, with lots of whites, Indians, some Coloureds, and blacks. Indeed, it was far more integrated than a lot of the places on Long Street I had spent some time at.
Besides dancing like fiends (the loud music made it very hard to communicate and I felt somewhat uncomfortable given my lack of appropriate 'dance or club attire'), we spent some time taking shots (I only participated once, and actually bought one of the 'diamonds' a drink, too) and relaxing. From what I can recall several months later, one was studying film and the rest were studying different areas. After about an hour of two, we left (our hands were stamped so we could get back in for free) and walked around the block for a while, mainly so that they could smoke that dagga (just playing, black South Africans seem to refer to it as weed for the most part, I think dagga is Afrikaans), which I did not take part in. While walking around, the woman who invited me to the group and I discussed her interests in Spanish, I asked a question about some slang I've heard lots of black South Africans use (ninga = nigga, which they confirmed for me), and I asked them about their homes and thoughts on Cape Town (unfortunately, I can only remember that one was from Centurion, and only because I briefly visited that area between Pretoria and Jo'burg).
Unlike some of the other middle-class black South Africans who were primary English speakers I talked to, they did not seem to feel discomfort in Cape Town's predominantly white upper-class spaces. Indeed, they all spoke highly of Cape Town and UCT, revealing nothing deeper in their thoughts on race relations, class inequality, or preferences of Cape Town or Jo'burg. I did realize that they, like too many young people from all over the world, idolize and closely mimic and follow US popular culture. Each of them talked to me about their love of the US, wanting to see New York and Los Angeles, how much they enjoyed that Kendrick Lamar song, etc. Indeed, like the mostly white students from the Southern suburbs of Cape Town I worked with in some of my courses at UCT, they also liked horrible American television shows (why the hell do people like Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother. Europeans could also be obsessed with those horrible American sitcoms, Justin Bieber, and other inferior US/North American cultural exports). Oh well, at least they didn't tell me I looked like the Indian nerd in Big Bang Theory like the middle-class man in Soweto!
Indeed, from what I can tell, those of means and engaged in popular culture to some extent, all consumed US culture (or what they think of as "American"), which entailed idolozing and dreaming of going to New York and Los Angeles. Since I have been to these cities they idolize, I tried to tell them life in New York or LA ain't all it's cracked up to be, but perhaps that experience is better left to experiencing it for themselves. Surprising, they did not ask too much about the cities I was from and lived in, but hey, they ain't exciting compared to NYC.
After dancing around some more, discussing films with the lanky individual, and then becoming exhausted (dancing is tiring, I don't know how young people do it so much!), we left the joint and caught a cab. I suppose due to their earlier smoking, everyone wanted to eat fast food, so we took the cab to the McDonald's on Main Road in Obz. It's kind of a new status thing for the black middle classes in South Africa to be able to eat at some of these international fastfood chains. In the past, a place like KFC was frequented overwhelmingly by white South Africans, but 'black economic empowerment' and the growth of the black middle class has led to joints such as the aforementioned KFC to lose their prestige to whites. Anyway, everyone enjoys and eats at KFC and McDonald's in Cape Town. Besides being assumed to be a nerd by the stylish, thin woman, we ended up finally leaving McDonald's driveway after the employee messed up our order and everyone decided what belonged to who. It was somewhat childish and annoying, because I did not order anything yet had to endure yelling and somewhat excessive arguing.
Long story short, I was dropped off first because I stayed in Mowbray, closest to Observatory. They got off the cab later in neighborhoods closer to UCT. I felt bad about not paying anything for the cab, but was short on cash and only rode with them for less than a mile. Also, they probably are wealthier than me! One could afford a flight to get back to Johannesburg of all things the next day! Some of her spending habits struck me as frivolous, but who am I to judge? But I digress, they were an interesting group that struck me as somewhat apolitical and complacent. Yet I did not interact with them in a non-clubbing setting. I am certain that on campus they're studious or serious students (they seemed that way when we crossed paths by Jameson Plaza). In addition, each one, especially the woman who introduced me to the group, are more informed and critical than I noticed that evening. They were in a 'let's get drunk, high, and dance' mood that's common among all university students, particularly those of means.
In the end, my experience with 'black diamonds' such as the above were always cordial and somewhat interesting, yet also occasionally dull in terms of depth or meaning beyond the superficial when focused on rather mindless activities, such as drinking and dancing at overpriced clubs (yet still much cheaper than some of the pseudo-fancy places on Long Street). Unsurprisingly, most felt no reason to discuss their privileges or how the growth of the black elite and middle-classes is the primary factor in class inequality in post-apartheid South Africa. But then again, how often do elite or middle-class Americans discuss poverty in a serious, meaningful way?
Oh well, perhaps because so many of the black South Africans at UCT are from similarly privileged backgrounds, I can see many socializing largely in that circle of diamonds from Johannesburg and with whites. Indeed, that is what I witnessed with one 'diamond' who was dating the 'gay Nazi' neighbor of mine. So black diamonds don't even have to think about or confront some of these issues if their social circles (dictated according to lines drawn by class and, somewhat, race) and privileged membership in exclusive spaces such as UCT, the 'best university in Africa," never push them to confront the dire straits the overwhelming majority of the black populace of Cape Town and the Cape Flats face.
What do you think? Is this long, rambling post of any real significance on the topic of race relations and class in postapartheid Cape Town? And what of Coloureds, who constitute about 49% of Cape Town's population? I have no real understanding or exposure to Colored class/race dynamics that did not come out of a book. I would be fascinated to hear about how Coloureds at UCT conceived of themselves in Cape Town's social relations, the distribution of power, and race relations.
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