Cape Malay docuseries
|Published
VOICE: Ismail Abrahams, Fatima Galant Abrahams
Two local residents have created a new documentary series to preserve the culture and legacy of the Cape Malay community in Cape Town.
Storytellers Fatima Galant Abrahams, 38, from Lansdowne and Ismail Abrahams, 38, from Mitchells Plain brewed up the show under the banner of their company Skylimit ProjMan Productions.
The show is called Cape Malay Jawwap! and it is being broadcast on YouTube, featuring the remarkable stories of ordinary people.
“Jawwap” means “do not fade out; to stand together; to be heard, or to participate”, said its co-founder and director, Fatima.
The series follows her self-published book, Imam Haron’s BILAL, on her father Abduraghmaan “Pinkie” Galant’s cherished memories as a student of the late anti-apartheid icon, Imam Abdullah Haron, during the 1960s.
The series is further inspired by the legacies of the Galant and Diedericks families formerly from Claremont and District Six; and their ongoing community feeding scheme project, called Pinkie’s CHOW.
Over 20 people have been interviewed with more to follow.
Season 1 will include eight episodes, and Episode 3 will be broadcast on 7 February.
Sunday’s episode featured Tougeed Rajab, from Rocklands, who soon after losing both his parents also lost his wife after giving birth to their firstborns, a set of twins.
They also share the story of 101-year-old Galiema Ismail Hendricks, formally from Claremont and who was forcibly removed during the apartheid era under the Group Areas Act.
Co-founder Ismail Abrahams says despite the many challenges the Cape Malay community faced in the past, “a joyous spirit remains” and it is for this very reason that they want to showcase their “raw or untold stories”.
A new story airs on the Cape Malay YouTube channel every second Sunday at 9.30am.