What do you call the thing you picked and where does it go?
My mother referred the furniture piece as a chair with a side table or “die phone tafeltjie”. It was placed in the corner under our stairs.
Why did you pick this furniture piece?
This furniture piece brought back a lot of silly and funny memories.
Explain what this furniture piece means to you or your family/friends?
“Die phone tafeltjie” meant a lot to us because it brought families and friends together and my mother could help our neighbours when they needed to phone their loved ones.
Tell me a story around this furniture piece? A memory, a thought or something that happened recently.
I remember “die phone tafeltjie” as an adorable old-fashioned furniture piece that stood in the corner under our stairs. This piece was used by different characters such as my family, friends and especially our lovely neighbours who often asked to use our telephone. As a little girl I was very naughty and curious. I used to eavesdrop on our neighbour’s telephone conversations pretending to watch cartoons. “Dit was lekke funny stories”. This chair must have been so comfortable the way everyone was chatting like there was no tomorrow. The best part for me was when my mother told the neighbours “is die nou ‘n vannige phone call, jy praat darem nou lekke lank ne”. She use to tell them this while they were still on the call. You had to hear it in her voice. It was vrek funny.
How does this piece of furniture make you feel?
It makes me feel happy because it brings back all the silly and funny memories when I look at the pictures.
Do you think this piece of furniture represents us as Coloureds? Why?
Yes because for me this “phone tafeltjie” helped brought families and friends together and that is how coloured people is.
How would you describe your interpretation of Colouredness?
Coloured people is generally happy despite their struggles and hardships they go through. The coloured community are very close and helpful.
What other things strongly represent Colouredness?
Where they live, what they eat, how they dress, the way they speak and their traditions.
What does it mean to be Coloured in South Africa now?
Despite our country being a democratic nation. You still get white areas that is better than the coloured areas. Due to the result of poor governance, the cost of living and unemployment has increased. The coloured areas is significantly more dangerous. For me the effects of apartheid are still with us. But I still feel that I live in a better Cape Town than the one my siblings use to live in because of the freedom.
What is your relationship with your Colouredness?
I grew up in Mitchell’s Plain and the relationship with my Colourdness is the way I was brought up with Cape Malay traditions.
