Speaking for themselves
Kaaps is a language widely spoken in the bleak townships of Cape Town, South Africa. It\u2019s often denigrated as a lesser form of Afrikaans \u2013 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 \u2013 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\nProducers: Audrey Brown and Tim Mansel \nMixed by Neil Churchill\nProduction coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross\nSeries 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)