Cape Town - It is a struggle to preserve the tradition and true meaning of the klopse as the annual festival has turned into a fierce competition, rather than a day of fun.
Anwar Alexander, Bo-Kaap co-ordinator of the Happy Boys Klopse troupe, argues that its tradition has changed, going as far as to say that that it was not about klopse anymore.
“It’s about competition, which to me is a bit of a negative, because it’s killing the whole purpose of happiness. It’s killing the purpose of the slave history and I do know that we need to move on, and that we need to take things to the next level, but I would say that, to me, it’s a bit of a sad time.
“If you take it percentage wise, I’d say about 10-15% is sadness because it’s not about minstrels and klopse anymore; it’s about fighting and basically killing each other to win.
"You need to have some decency and some form of respect for the culture, the tradition, history of it and why it was started.”
Alexander also explained that a lot of work went into the cultural tradition, as children often grew up in the klopse, having their potential groomed into what would only benefit them in the future, but this had changed, because troupes were not above poaching people in the name of competition.
He added that it was important that people remembered the real reason behind the minstrels, stressing that it was about unity and seeing the positive side.
The klopse started as a day of freedom for the Cape slaves and turned into a tradition that was now more than 100 years old, where many gathered on the streets of Cape Town on January 2 to acknowledge that history, and celebrate the cheerful parade.
Thousands usually gather to watch the Cape Town Street Parade as Cape Klopse troupes perform and compete to see who is the best in the province.
Alexander said his own participation had come a long way.
“My grandfather, who passed on nearly 20 years ago, was the one who introduced us into klopse. As children, whenever you see the klopse in the road, it was a jolly thing,” he said.
“Because of my forefathers, my grandfather and my daddy, they were also in the culture and tradition during their time; they then introduced us.
“We were the upcoming and they would introduce us and take us to practices, firstly, and you would see the atmosphere with everyone being jolly,” Alexander added.
He explained that at first it was just musical fun with the beats and the tunes that would stick in your head, but, for his family, it had always been mostly in-depth and committed.
“There are many stories and cases, but our story would be that when you looked back you would smile, laugh and cry, and miss the people that connected you with minstrels and the tradition mostly.
“My grandfather, Abdullah Isaacs – they called him Boeta Doeltjies – was very well-known in the minstrels.
"He was an entertainer.
“I would say, in my family, the Alexander clan, we are the most serious of all the troupes about planning.”
He shared how, for the Alexanders, performing was a year-long dedication.
He added that, for the Happy Boys, the next season would start as soon as the present one finished.
“In January, even, you’ll pick up a few things that you will want to better for the next season. Your season never stops, really.
“The way we work with the people is that they need to be comfortable and they need to be happy, to a certain extent, because you can’t please all the people all the time. We have all of the expertise in our family, because a coach will charge a troupe between R1 500 and R50 000 for the year, and that is the level of minstrels is these days. The level is extremely high.
“The minstrels are, to the Western Cape, what Table Mountain is to Cape Town. We are united in uniform and in face," Alexander said.
Cape Argus