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| Strand beach during Apartheid |
By Mike Smith
31st of May 2016
I grew up with Apartheid signs that read “Strand en see net blankes; Beach and sea whites only”.
Liberals used to get a fit about these signs, but seldom asked why these signs were there.
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| The day in 1986 when the signs on Strand beach were defied |
I wonder what those liberals will say now…
Animal slaughtering thwarted on popular Cape beach
A group of blacks led by a female Sangoma wanted to slaughter a goat and chickens on the beautiful Strand beach. Right on Milk Bay. Fortunately a neighborhood watchman saw what was happening and alerted the authorities after one chicken's head was already chopped off.
“The lady sangoma was very upset because she said it was an open beach and we can do what we want.”
Traditional ceremonies were most commonly conducted out of the public eye and in homesteads, said Xolile Ndevu, general secretary of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa.
The slaughtering of goats and cows was linked to ancestral beliefs and commonly used for thanks, honour or cleansing, said Ndevu.
The animal was speared in the stomach so that it bellowed.
“Everyone claps hands and ululates when it bellows because then it means the ritual is in accordance with our custom.”
They killed the animal soon after and did not cause it much pain, said Ndevu.
“We do this once in a while so it is nothing to do with animal cruelty.”
He believed chickens were most often used by sangomas for “quick-fix interventions”.
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| Strand beach and golf course next to the Lourens River today. Incidentally , the golf course was built on top of the former chemical mud dams from the AECI factory to the right out of picture. |