Faizel and the Stars

FAIZEL and the Stars came about as a result of Afrikaaps/Kaaps being a marginalised vernacular in South Africa.

- RAFIEK MAMMON

Afrikaaps is a dialect used mainly by coloured speakers of Afrikaans in the Cape Town/Western Cape region of the country. To many, and for many years, especially during the apartheid regime, it was seen as a threat to and a form of "abuse" or vilification of the pure, standard form of the language.

Yet, it was a form of very real communication that afforded a huge part of the population in the broader Cape Town region to express themselves in a manner that was colourful, direct and even rebellious in some ways.

And, as literature was in the hands of the purists, the local variety mostly got left behind in written form and in mass media.

Of late, with movements that clearly drive inclusiveness and competitiveness agendas in our country, we started seeing the resurgence of Kaaps in many formats, including literature.

Jacana Media accepted the manuscript, first written in Kaaps and then rewritten in standard Afrikaans with direct speech in Kaaps so as to capture the true essence of the characters when they speak. It then was translated into English, Xhosa and Zulu.