Tweede Nuwe Jaar is nie te koop nie / 'Tweede Nuwe Jaar' is not for sale

NOTE: This article is written in the traditional Afrikaans language birthed in Cape Town. The English translation is below.

Luister mooi.

Ons praat nie van ’n event nie.

Ons praat nie van “crowd control” nie.

Ons praat nie van ’n “venue shift” nie.

Ons praat van ons siel.

Tweede Nuwe Jaar is nie iets wat jy kan skuif soos ’n konsert op ’n kalender nie. Dis nie iets wat jy kan reroute soos verkeer nie. Dis nie iets wat jy kan fence, brand en ticket nie.

Dis óns. Punt.

Van die vroeë 1900’s af toe ons mense nog nie eers mense was in die oë van die staat nie het Januarie 2 behoort aan die enslaved. Hulle ene dag af.

Nie Kersfees nie. Nie Nuwe Jaar nie.

Tweede Nuwe Jaar.

Daai dag het ons mense gevat wat min gehad het en gesê: “Vandag sing ons.”

“Vandag loop ons.”

“Vandag wys ons ons bestaan.”

En ja, hulle het gekyk na American minstrel shows.

Maar hulle het dit nie gekopieer nie.

Hulle het dit Kaaps gemaak.

Hulle het pyn in ritme verander.

Hulle het vernedering in kleur verander.

Dis hoe die Klopse gebore is.

Nie in ’n boardroom nie.

Nie met sponsors nie.

Maar in strate. In kitchens. In families.

District Ses. Bo-Kaap.

Die backbone.

Hier het mense geoefen sonder subsidies.

Hier het koore saamgestaan sonder contracts.

Hier het kostuums ontstaan uit hande wat gewerk het al was daar niks.

En spectators?

Hulle het nie gekom omdat daar stoele was nie.

Hulle het gekom omdat hierdie iets heiligs is.

Mense kamp van die vorige dag af.

Nie vir comfort nie.

Maar vir belonging.

Nou kom die DA-geleide Stad Kaapstad en sê: Ons change die route.

Ons change die datum.

Ons vat Tweede Nuwe Jaar na Januarie 5.

En ons charge R60 tot R100 om in ’n stadium te sit.

Is julle serious?

Wie dink julle is julle?

Jy kan nie ’n liberation tradisie vat en dit verander in ’n betaalde “experience” nie.

Jy kan nie armoede estetiseer en dan entry charge nie.

Jy kan nie mense se geskiedenis privatiseer nie.

Tweede Nuwe Jaar is nie vir Hollywoodbets nie.

Dis nie vir VIP-lounges nie.

Dis nie vir branding opportunities nie.

Dis vir die tannie wat elke jaar haar stoeltjie bring.

Dis vir die kind wat eerste keer die drum hoor.

Dis vir die koor wat heel jaar spaar vir uniforms.

Dis vir die Klopse wat nog glo aan iets groter as hulleself.

En kom ons praat straight: Die Stad Kaapstad het nie eers ’n answering affidavit ingedien nie.

Nie. Eers.

So min respekteer hulle hierdie gemeenskap.

Maar hulle verwag respek van óns.

Hierdie gaan nie net oor logistiek nie.

Hierdie gaan oor mag.

Wie besluit?

Wie praat?

Wie betaal die prys?

Elke keer as iets bruin, swart, working-class is dan moet dit “gereguleer” word.

Dan moet dit “geformaliseer” word.

Dan moet dit “beperk” word.

Maar wanneer elite events die stad oorneem?

Dan is daar skielik planne.

Dan is daar skielik budgets.

Dan is daar skielik “world-class standards”.

Dis dieselfde stad. Net ander mense.

Tweede Nuwe Jaar het apartheid oorleef.

Dit het Group Areas oorleef.

Dit het forced removals oorleef.

Dit het armoede oorleef.

Dit het stigma oorleef.

Dit sal nie nou buig vir ’n stadium en ’n tender nie.

Ons is nie teen orde nie.

Ons is nie teen veiligheid nie.

Ons is nie teen gesprek nie.

Maar ons is teen nog ’n round van dispossession.

Ons is teen mense wat nie luister nie.

Ons is teen besluite wat bo ons koppe geneem word.

Die hofsaak word aangehoor Maandag, 29 Desember 2025 om 3pm.

Maar môre, 2pm by die Kaapse Hooggeregshof, moet ons wys.

Nie met chaos nie.

Nie met geweld nie.

Maar met teenwoordigheid.

Want heritage leef nie in dokumente nie.

Dit leef in liggame.

In stemme.

In strate.

Jy kan nie ’n volk se geheue skuif nie.

Tweede Nuwe Jaar is nie onderhandelbaar nie.

Die datum is nie onderhandelbaar nie.

Die route is nie net ’n “opsie” nie; dis geskiedenis in beweging.

Ons vat dit nie lêgend neer nie.

Ons staan.

Ons praat.

Ons organiseer.

Want hierdie stad is ook óns stad.

En Tweede Nuwe Jaar is ons bewys dat ons nog hier is.

#KaapseKlopse

#CapeMinstrels

#Heritage

#Tradition

* Faiez Jacobs is a former Member of Parliament, founder of The Transcendence Group, Capetonian, Activist, and Servant of the People.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

NOTE: This article is written in the traditional Afrikaans language birthed in Cape Town. The English translation is below.

Listen carefully. We are not talking about an event. We are not talking about "crowd control." We are not talking about a "venue shift." We are talking about our soul. Tweede Nuwe Jaar is not something you can move like a concert on a calendar. It is not something you can reroute like traffic. It is not something you can fence, brand, and ticket. It is us. Period.

Since the early 1900s, when our people weren't even considered people in the eyes of the state, January 2nd belonged to the enslaved. Their one day off. Not Christmas. Not New Year's Day. Tweede Nuwe Jaar. On that day, we took people who had little and said: "Today we sing." "Today we march." "Today we show our existence." And yes, they looked at American minstrel shows. But they didn't copy them. They made it Cape. They turned pain into rhythm. They turned humiliation into color. That's how the Klopse were born. Not in a boardroom. Not with sponsors. But in the streets. In kitchens. In families. District Six. Bo-Kaap. The backbone. Here, people practiced without subsidies. Here, choirs came together without contracts. Here, costumes emerged from hands that worked, even when there was nothing. And spectators? They didn't come because there were seats. They came because this is something sacred. People camp from the day before. Not for comfort. But for belonging.

Now the DA-led City of Cape Town comes and says: We change the route. We change the date. We take Tweede Nuwe Jaar to January 5. And we charge R60 to R100 to sit in a stadium. Are you serious? Who do you think you are? You cannot take a liberation tradition and turn it into a paid "experience." You cannot aestheticize poverty and then charge entry. You cannot privatize people's history. Tweede Nuwe Jaar is not for Hollywoodbets. It is not for VIP lounges. It is not for branding opportunities. It is for the auntie who brings her little chair every year. It is for the child hearing the drum for the first time. It is for the choir that saves all year for uniforms. It is for the Klopse who still believe in something bigger than themselves.

And let's talk straight: The City of Cape Town hasn't even submitted an answering affidavit yet. Not. Even. Yet. So little do they respect this community. But they expect respect from us. This is not just about logistics. This is about power. Who decides? Who speaks? Who pays the price? Every time something is brown, black, working-class, it must be "regulated." It must be "formalised." It must be "restricted." But when elite events take over the city? Then suddenly there are plans. Then suddenly there are budgets. Then suddenly there are "world-class standards." It's the same city. Just different people.

Tweede Nuwe Jaar survived apartheid. It survived the Group Areas Act. It survived forced removals. It survived poverty. It survived stigma. It will not bend now for a stadium and a tender. We are not against order. We are not against safety. We are not against dialogue. But we are against another round of dispossession. We are against people who do not listen. We are against decisions made over our heads.

The court case will be heard on Monday, December 29, 2025, at 3 pm. But tomorrow, 2 pm at the Cape High Court, we must show up. Not with chaos. Not with violence. But with presence. Because heritage does not live in documents. It lives in bodies. In voices. In the streets. You cannot shift a people's memory. Tweede Nuwe Jaar is not negotiable. The date is not negotiable. The route is not just an "option"; it is history in motion. We will not take this lying down. We stand. We speak. We organise. Because this city is also our city. And Second New Year is our proof that we are still here.

#KaapseKlopse

#CapeMinstrels

#Heritage

#Tradition