“The trains are messed up again today,” a guy, not looking a day older than twenty five, says to his friend standing next to him.

The train maintains a constant speed paying no attention to his remark.

“I take it as it comes; no stress,” the friend replies nonchalantly.

The guy scratches in a bag slung over his shoulder, opens his lunch box, and takes out a sandwich. Before he takes a bite he manages to say: “Been up since five this morning and never had a chance to have breakfast. I had to fix the wife’s hairdryer this morning. The dog chewed the chord in half, fortunately it wasn’t plugged in.”

He takes a bite of the sandwich and shakes his head. The friend looks at him and rolls his eyes. Within seconds the sandwich is devoured.

“Elke oggen se ding,” he says while the sandwich makes its way to his stomach.

“My wife got so fed up with struggling with her hair that she eventually had it cut short; almost schoolboy style,” the friend comments.

I wonder… should I have another sandwich? the guy with the sling bag thinks. Rather not, let me wait for teatime, he finally decides.

“I saw that time I met your motjie, that she has Malaysian features,” he suddenly thinks out loud.
The friend looks at him with a grin on his face. “Yes she hails from the Bo-Kaap,” he says casually.

“Bo- Kaap nogal, but waar kry sy daai features, blush complexion oval eyes and dark hair?” the guy with the sling bag explains.

“Djy het oek my motjie gestudy ou bra,” the friend replies seeming almost surprised.

“No, no, not in that way. It was just my observation,” he laughingly explains himself away, waving his hands.

“OK, just checking, but she says her grandfather’s ancestor came to South Africa in the seventeen hundreds as a Malay slave. Her grandfather on the other hand carried an Identity Document which classified him as Cape Malay,” the friend says shrugging shoulders in a manner which suggests: That’s what she says. I can’t argue.

“Wow, cool!” the guy with the sling bag exclaims with a ‘tell-me-more’ look on his face.

“She says that her grandfather told the story that his grandfather was a tailor. His daughter became a dressmaker while her three brothers were master-builders. They were part of a group who designed and built the houses in the ‘Ses’. Those guys were skilful, productive and contributed towards the economy in an area where people of all races lived together in harmony. Everybody was like family during that time; according to the motjie,” the friend further unravels the history of his wife’s foreign features.

The guy with the sling bag thinks for a moment then says: “So the term or title ‘Cape Malay’ is derived from ‘Cape Malaysian’ and doesn’t necessary mean all Cape Muslims?” and waits for his friend’s response.

“As far as I can understand and I’m not an expert on the topic I’m just listening to the motjie’s stories,” the friend explains shrugging his shoulders.

He continues: “She says that Afrikaans, the way we speak it on the Cape Flats, has its roots in the Bo-Kaap. Words like motjie; baadjie; piesang; piering; tramakasie and boeja all come from the Malays.”

“So Afrikaans isn’t the language of white people or die boere?” the guy with the sling bag asks looking even more curious.

“Nooitie! Afrikaans is ôsse taal. Daai is ’n misconception,” the friend explains looking somewhat irritated.

“Wow! Djy sê daai ding bra,” the guy with a sling bag replies while adjusting his baseball cap.

“For example, my surname is November,” he continues. “My father says the name was given to slaves who arrived at the Cape during that month.”

“So all the Novembers could possibly be related,” the friend teases.

The guy pulls the baseball cap over his face looking baffled. “Miskien moet ek it ytcheck,” he manages to say through the cap.

Arriving at Salt River station Table Mountain towers into the clear blue sky with a wealth of history laid at its feet.

***

Urban Dictionary

motjie – An Afrikaaps word for “wife” originating from Malay.

Bo-Kaap – A residential area on the edge of Cape Town’s city centre. Previously occupied exclusively by people classified as Cape Malay.

Ses – The Afrikaans word for “six” in this case specifically referring to District Six in Cape Town.

baadjie – The Afrikaans word for “jacket” originating from Malay.

piesang – The Afrikaans word for “banana” originating from Malay.

piering – The Afrikaans word for “saucer” originating from Malay.

tramakasie – An Afrikaaps word for “thank you” originating from the Malay / Indo-Arabic “terima kasi”.

boeja – An Afrikaaps word originating from Mala/ Indo-Arabic which means loosely means “uncle” and is usually used to endearingly refer to a mature Muslim man.

boere – The Afrikaans word for “farmers” which as in this specific case is also used to refer to White Afrikaners. In Afrikaaps it is also used to refer to police officers irrespective of their race as during the Apartheid years the South African Police was exclusively commanded by White Afrikaner males.

nooitie – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans term “nooit nie” which means “never/not ever”. The word “nooit” on its own also means “never”.

ôsse – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “onse” which means “our”.

ytcheck – An Afrikaaps term for “check out” combining the Afrikaaps word “yt” for “uit” meaning “out” and the English word “check”.

“Elke oggen se ding.”
“It’s an every morning thing.”

“Bo- Kaap nogal but waar kry sy daai features?”
“Bo-Kaap mind you, but where does she get those features?”

“Djy het oek my motjie gestudy ou bra.”
“You’ve also studied my wife old buddy.”

“Nooitie! Afrikaans is ôsse taal. Daai is ’n misconception.”
“Never! Afrikaans is our language. That is a misconception.”

“Wow! Djy sê daai ding bra.”
“Wow! That’s what you’re saying buddy.”

“Miskien moet ek it ytcheck.”
“Maybe I must check it out.”