Gugulethu (meaning ‘our pride’) is one of the oldest and fastest developing black townships in South Africa. This township boasts many shebeens, restaurants and jazz clubs. A shebeen is a good place to enjoy the local beer and savour the sounds of township jazz. You can spice up your dinner at The Thuthuka Café that plays smooth live Cape Jazz: another hot venue is the famed Yellow Door jazz club. Kwaito, South Africa’s answer to house music originated in the townships. This music genre has subsequently made a name for itself in the global arena.
Eating Out
People can eat at Cyn catering services, which specialises in traditional food. Skilled
unemployed people are involved in the cooking, baking and waitressing. You can also dine at the Meat Market situated at Ezoni, the oldest building in Gugulethu. Varied meats are served; from sheep heads to the African cultural feast “umbengo" or braai. The market also serves as an entertainment center, providing pool games and a number of local shebeens. There are several licensed shebeens in ‘Gugs’ as well as some illegal ones. Local people frequent shebeens to have a drink and chat about politics, music, or soccer. Popza’s Place and Frances in NY 3A are popular haunts.
A Place to Stay
Although there is not much tourist accommodation in Gugulethu: a good example of the hospitality of township life is to be found at the Salmonberry Guest house situated at 24 Dubua Crescent in Station Park.
Entertainment
Gugulethu has the the Ubuntu arts promotion and Cyn Catering service situated at Yellow Door Jazz Café, which is popular for its drama, art and craft stalls, marimba music, and top class jazz. Ubuntu (humanity) is a community-based organization, established to promote township tourism by bringing local people together.
The Bo Kaap: A Multicultural Treasure
This community lives right below the slopes of signal hill, regarded as prime real estate in Cape Town. Follow the cobble-stoned streets with its brightly coloured houses, though a community bustling with activity. This is the traditional residential area of Cape Town’s Muslim Community. Muslim ‘saints’ shrines ("kramats") and many beautiful Mosques including the first established Muslim Mosque in South Africa can be found here.
Most of the residents are descended from slaves brought here by the Dutch in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They came from Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, and elsewhere in Asia. The common term for people of this community is "Cape Malays", although most of them are not descended from Malaysians.
The early Muslim slaves in Cape Town included famous scholars and religious leaders. Many others were skilled artisans. This community has played a major role in the language and culture of Cape Town and South Africa.
The Muslim community has also had a large influence on the cooking of South Africa. Cape Malay cuisine is a delight. It consists of a combination of fruit, spices, vegetables, and meat. You can enjoy this artful combination of sweet and sour when visiting a restaurant in the Bo Kaap; eating in the traditional way, with your hands, while sitting on the floor.
Noonday Gun Restaurant
A well-known restaurant in the Bo Kaap is the ‘Noon Day Gun’. Famed for its exquisite Malay cuisine, and run by a welcoming Muslim family that know everything you need to know about this burgeoning community. The ‘noon day guns’ are overhead, so if you’re there at 12pm, watch out for the ‘bang’.
Architecture
The Bo Kaap's character started emerging during the period of 1790 and 1840. The architecture is characterised by both Dutch and British influences. Houses are mainly semi-detached, but free standing homes also exist. The Facade of the houses is what charms visitors the most, ending at the top in the parapet, and a molded cornice will be found directly below that. The entrance to the houses is mostly elevated from the streets.
Museum
No. 71 Wale Street, known as the Bo Kaap Museum was an original "huurhuisie" (house for hire) one of the first constructed houses in the Bo Kaap. The house has been restored to represent an original "Malay dwelling" of the 19th Century. Even the roof is in yellowwood to keep the feeling of the old Cape Dutch beams.
Cultural Diversity And Education
In Massachusetts a judge recently said that a parent's authority concerning their children ends at the doors of the public school. This was the answer given to parents who were at arms over the teaching of the gay lifestyle to their children in the public school. They were told that they had the option to send their children to private schools or homeschool them if they could not abide the rule.
In Philadelphia a man witnessing about his faith in Christ received death threats and was told his adherence to the idea of marriage being between only one man and one woman is perverted. Using the P word when referring to homosexuals can raise the ire of any number of gay activists or groups not to mention that in some states may lead to a law suit. What happened to ?whatever is good for the goose???
Muslim children are never forced to pledge allegiance to the flag, pray Christian prayers or attend Christian meetings. Children of American born Christian parents are now being forced to attend rallies that deny the teachings of their parents and their church. This is the old double standard with a whole new twist.
In San Diego parents are being fought by the school and the city officials because they do not want their children to take part in the gay pride parade. The parade promises to produce a spectacle of sexual debauchery for all the kids to see as it has consistently now for several years.
The treatment of parents and concerned citizens is equivalent to telling them they have no rights to uphold the original perception of the school as it was first presented. This presentation had to do with education, academic pursuits and character building. Cultural diversity being the new kid on the block seems to be re-writing the rules even as it seeks an umbrella of protection from the halls of American jurisprudence.
Turning a culture upside down in the name of tolerance is by any other name intolerance and a whopping double standard.
Just after the byline an article by Wendy Cloyd 2-16-2007 on the CitizenLink website starts with ?Gay-activist group Soulforce is organizing protests of Christian colleges because of their codes that forbid sexual immorality.? Is there a fight to protect immorality in the U.S.?
With former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former President Jimmy Carter now claiming that the Iraq war has taken away America's ability to stand for what is moral and friendly, one can only wonder if either of them knows about Soulforce.
Even as the ?Philadelphia Eleven? from the ministries of Repent America are being heavily penalized for their attempts to evangelize at abortion clinics and gay rallies Soulforce plans to double its efforts to evangelize for the gay life. Their efforts include two busses, each loaded with protestors bound for each coast of the U.S. to visit and protest at some 32 Christian colleges and Universities. Some schools are planning to meet with them and do what might be considered ?counter evangelism.?
It remains to be seen if any of their band of gay life promoters will be arrested or charged with any civil rights violations. Although gays have not been targeted to any degree for name calling, death threats and creating fear they have certainly been doing the same for some time now. The double standard may start to get noticed as the more militant factions of the gay rights activists? face off with various cultural and Christian groups in this country.
Besides the double standards that are practiced and espoused there is also a plethora of behavioral non sequiturs that the gay community seems unable to defend. A case in point comes from the ?City That Care Forget.?
In New Orleans even some of residents of the French Quarter's rousing party district have taken exception to the yearly celebrations of the gay community's event called ?Southern Decadence.? Some people seem to think that while gays are trying to present their lifestyle as normal and culturally acceptable that to associate it with decadence is obviously contradictory. The celebration has aspects that cannot be seen as anything other than decadent thus producing yet another double standard that is starting to get noticed.
Getting it all morally mixed up is not new in our civilization but sadly when things get this mangled up it usually spells the end of a culture or nation not its advancement.
Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment? Malachi 2:17
Both Bronwen Elisabeth Roberts & Rev Michael Bresciani are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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