Speaking for themselves

Speaking for themselves

Kaaps is a language widely spoken in the bleak townships of Cape Town, South Africa. It’s often denigrated as a lesser form of Afrikaans – the language that was used as a tool of white supremacy during the apartheid era. Spoken predominately by working class people on the Cape Flats, Kaaps is associated with negative stereotypes – its speakers denigrated as uneducated, "ghetto" layabouts involved in gang culture.

But a new, burgeoning movement led by hip-hop artists, academics, writers and film makers is actively changing that perception. They want to reclaim Afrikaaps to restore the linguistic, cultural and racial dignity of a formerly disenfranchised people. The writer Lindsay Johns travels to Cape Town to meet the activists determined to assert the worth and pride of the people who speak Afrikaaps.

Presenter: Lindsay Johns Producers: Audrey Brown and Tim Mansel Mixed by Neil Churchill Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross Series Editor: Penny Murphy

(Image: Children in Lavender Hill, a township on the Cape Flats in Cape Town, South Africa. Credit: Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Episoder(2000)

Hard times in the Big Easy

Hard times in the Big Easy

New Orleans is the murder capital of the United States: researchers into 2022’s crime figures say it suffered more homicides per capita than any other major city. Carjackings, armed robberies and othe...

18 Mai 202327min

Bonus: The Lazarus Heist

Bonus: The Lazarus Heist

Introducing season 2 of an original podcast about hackers and North Korea. They’re back - in fact the criminals never went away. Season 2 begins at an ATM, possibly near you.

17 Mai 202336min

In the Studio: Sir Lenny Henry

In the Studio: Sir Lenny Henry

Sir Lenny Henry's new one man show - August in England gives an insight into the lives impacted by the Windrush scandal. In 2017, thousands of legal residents who arrived from Commonwealth countries f...

16 Mai 202327min

Generation Change: Battling for a sustainable environment

Generation Change: Battling for a sustainable environment

Babita Sharma meets young people from around the world working to fight climate change, including a Kenyan engineer who has designed a solar powered fridge which can be used to transport vaccines on a...

15 Mai 202327min

Generation Change: Equality in science and technology

Generation Change: Equality in science and technology

Megha Mohan talks to young people working to diversify science, technology, engineering and maths - fields that will be crucial to the future of our planet, but whose workforces remain predominantly m...

15 Mai 202327min

Generation Change: Tackling taboos around organ donation

Generation Change: Tackling taboos around organ donation

Babita Sharma talks to young people who are trying to save lives by tackling taboos around organ donation in countries including India and the UK. She also speaks to Nobel Prize-winning economist Alvi...

15 Mai 202327min

Generation Change: Fighting hunger

Generation Change: Fighting hunger

Babita Sharma meets young people trying to solve global food problems, including a Lebanese man who worked to feed people after the deadly bomb blast in 2019, and an American woman whose work connecti...

15 Mai 202327min

BBC OS Conversations with Russians

BBC OS Conversations with Russians

In recent days, Russia staged its annual Victory Day military parade, celebrating the defeating of Nazi Germany during World War Two, which ended in 1945. Host James Reynolds hears from two women in M...

13 Mai 202324min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
alt-fortalt
aftenpodden-usa
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
popradet
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
wolfgang-wee-uncut
grenselos
fladseth
min-barneoppdragelse
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
synnve-og-vanessa
rss-frekvens-med-anine-olsen
krisemoter
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem