Cape Minstrels' route still not official heritage treasure

An estimated 20,000 people participated in the annual Cape Minstrels' march in Cape Town on Monday, drawing thousands of spectators.

This year's event highlighted the division between the two main organising groups: the Hollywood Bets-backed Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association and the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Association, with the latter taking city officials to court over a venue for their competition.

There were also disputes about the route and date of the march.

Traditionally, the event takes place on 2 January - known locally as Tweede Nuwe Jaar. This is when slaves at the Cape had the day off.

Jacky Poking, a representative of the Anti-Gentrification Front (AGF), said that way back in 2011, retired Constitutional Court judge Kate O’Regan led mediation between the City of Cape Town and minstrel groups, and an agreement was reached.

"It seems we've taken one step forward and a million back," says Poking in questioning why this agreement hasn't been honoured.

She's called for broader consultation and says they are also hoping to have he route declared a national heritage site this year.

Poking is part of the Tweede Nuwe Jaar Working Committee - a mixture of human rights defenders, cultural heritage activists and civic organisations that have made the nomination.

"It is with Sahra, the South African Heritage Resource Agency, at the moment. It's been there for a while. To give background to that nomination. It was first nominated in 2015. And nothing happened. Unfortunately, Sahra didn't have the capacity or knowledge to pass a route because it's intangible, but then the June 16th resistance route in Soweto was declared a national heritage, so they had a framework to work from. So now the door was open to renominate. So, we renominated the route with additional stories, evidence, and archival history.

"If you think about 2015, when this conversation started to have it protected, and it's 10 years later, and the decision still hasn't been made. But we are pushing hard for it to be declared this year."

They've appealed to the Sports, Arts and Culture Minister, Gayton McKenzie, for help.

"What we are saying is do what's right. Put funding aside, put mechanisms in place that cannot be ignored five years later. Something that, if you want to change it, you almost have to go to court."

To listen to Poking's full discussion with CapeTalk's Clarence Ford, use the audio player below: