Mitchell’s Plain is very special to me. I came to live here in 1982 as a young adult, after our family had lived in Hanover Park for most of my formative years. Like many others, we were hoping to have a better life in this new township.
My first interaction with Mitchell’s Plain was as a young journalist towards the end of 1980. I was about five or six months into a career at the then Cape Herald. Many of you might not remember the Cape Herald, but it was an important newspaper at the time and the only place where people who looked and sounded like me could find jobs. Jobs at papers like the Cape Times and Cape Argus were, in the main, reserved for whites in those days. It was somewhat ironic when about 15 years later, I became one of the first black editors of the Cape Times. But that is a story for another day.
Back to the Cape Herald. I remember coming in especially to work on a Tuesday – our normal day off – and travelling to Mitchell’s Plain with Rashid Seria, who was our deputy editor, to conduct interviews with several people who would be trading at the Town Centre, which was about to open. The interviews were for a special edition of the Cape Herald, which would be focused on the opening of the Town Centre.
I remember working on the stories over the weekend, at least a week ahead of publication. But then something strange happened. The entire staff of the Cape Herald, with the exception of the editor, decided to go on strike to demand better pay. We had discovered that most white journalists working at the Argus Company, our employer, were earning at least double what we were earning, with the same skills, education and experience. The result was that the special edition was never published. The bosses brought in scabs, but they were not able to produce the paper – and we also sabotaged them by telling shopkeepers who belonged to the Western Cape Traders Association, who was sympathetic to the struggle, that, in the event of the paper being printed, they should take the paper when it was delivered, but put it under the counter and not sell it. When the distributors came to collect unsold papers, all the papers would be returned. A month later we won our strike, and we all earned a lot more money. My pay went up from R250 a month to R500. I was rich.
I did not know at the time that I would join Grassroots community newspaper a few years later and that my family would move to Mitchell’s Plain in 1982. Through my involvement in Grassroots, I began to report more and more about what was happening in Mitchells Plain.
I was also an activist in Mitchell’s Plain and saw first-hand how the struggle was developing in the area.
I was involved in many of the campaigns in Mitchell’s Plain, many of which we reported on in Grassroots and other publications, such as City Press, which closed down last week, where I freelanced to supplement the meagre salary that I earned at Grassroots. That, too, is a story for another day.
I remember the stories about the campaigns such as the demand for lower electricity prices, for a general hospital in Mitchell’s Plain, among others. But I was also there when the young learners from Spine Road, Glendale, Mondale and other schools in the area stood up against apartheid and especially inferior education. Of course, one cannot forget the historic launch of the United Democratic Front at the Rocklands Civic Centre on 20 August 1983. The UDF was an important organisation in the 1980s as we pushed to end apartheid.
Grassroots reported on these and other community stories and this enabled us to use the paper as an organising tool. We had community selling blitzes all over the Cape Flats, including Mitchell’s Plain, where we were able to show people that the paper contained stories about them and their neighbourhood.
I am giving this background because I think to many of us, the story of Mitchell’s Plain has always been a political one, from the time it became a dormitory township for many people who were forcibly removed from District Six and other areas declared white around Cape Town. Far away from any jobs or amenities, Mitchell’s Plain was a place where people only came to sleep. They did not come here to live.
Over the years that changed, as more development took place in the area and the community became more settled. Yes, there are still problems, but I think it is time that we begin to tell the story of Mitchell’s Plain a bit different to what we did in the past.
We should not be ignoring the stories about the many problems in Mitchell’s Plain, but we need to also begin sharing the stories of the people of Mitchell’s Plain who have succeeded despite their living conditions. We need to show that there are role models who deserve to be emulated by the youth.
A few years ago, one of my friends, who has been successful in his career, came to visit his mom in Eastridge, in his new Audi. A young boy in the street asked him if he was a gangster. The assumption was that, because he appeared to have money, he must have earned it in an illegitimate way.
It is up to us in the media to show people such as the young boy in Eastridge that there are other role models, who can also be looked up at. These include the business people, the community activists, the doctors, the teachers, and many others who have and are still trying to make a difference in the community.
I have also believed that the media has a role to play that goes beyond being a mirror on society. In a society that is as troubled as ours, it is important for the media to open people’s eyes to the possibilities that exist beyond that which limit our potential for growth. The media’s role is not to merely report on what is happening. It must also provide answers to questions about why it is happening, and, in the case of social issues, what can be done to solve them.
There are many people who come from Mitchell’s Plain and who have achieved huge things in their lives and careers. They are from all sectors of society, including arts and culture, sport, the media, business and education. We need to find ways of showcasing these people to a younger generation who are desperately looking for role models.
We need to show our youth that you don’t need to aim to become a gangster or a taxi driver or the girlfriend of a gangster or a taxi driver. We need to make youngsters aware of the opportunities for advancement that exist and how they can access those opportunities.
Overcoming apartheid divisions
One of my biggest regrets is that the apartheid spatial divisions continue to this day and I believe the media can play a role in breaking this down. Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha are neighbouring townships, but it is almost like they are miles apart. One way of breaking down apartheid divisions is to foster closer cooperation between the peoples of Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha, and the media should be encouraging and reflecting this.
Imagine having a forum, whether is a newspaper, website, app or other social media platform where the people of Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha can share their stories, learning about each other and destroying the myth that we are all so different from each other. This can, of course, lead to regular interactions between these communities where we can explore our similarities as opposed to staying apart because of our perceived differences.
This mission, of showing that we have more in common than what we think, is what drove me almost 30 years ago, when I was editor of the Cape Times and I embarked on a major editorial and promotional project called One City, Many Cultures. The aim was to demystify the supposed differences between us. I believe that, quite often, we don’t get along with others because we don’t know enough about each other. We don’t know enough about each other because we don’t talk to each other.
This results in ignorance, which can often result in intolerance and even hatred, and there is no limit as to what can result from hatred.
I believe the media, when looking at areas such as Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha, should be actively looking at ways in which we can help the people in these areas to understand each other better. We will discover that we have much more in common than we realise. We must learn to have empathy with our neighbours and share their struggles and successes.
The importance of social media
I now want to turn my attention to social media, something that did not exist when I was growing up. Social media has, in many ways, levelled the playing fields in terms of media access. Most young people nowadays don’t depend on what is known as legacy media for their news updates. They get it from Tik Tok or other social media platforms. This, of course, presents a challenge in terms of the narratives that they support and promote.
When we talk about media nowadays, we no longer talk about newspapers, radio or television. We need to consider the impact of the social media platforms when it comes to news about our communities. This is a huge challenge, but also an opportunity. All of us need to become au fait with how social media works and explore the opportunities that it presents to tell our stories. You no longer need to produce a book when you have a lot of information. You could easily use a website or an App that will serve the same purpose and maybe even have a much wider audience.
The beauty of social media platforms is that it has completely democratised the media space. You no longer need the large media houses to tell your stories. You can do it yourself via these platforms. The only cost is data and a bit of your time.
Let’s change the narrative
In conclusion, I want to say that Mitchells is still a relatively young community, even though 50 might seem old. There is still room for us to create a proper and truthful narrative about the area: one that goes beyond the common narrative about the gangsters and drug leaders who control our communities.
Let us starts celebrating those who have achieved great things in life. Let us support the people who helped to deliver us into our democracy, such as Johnny Issel, Shahieda Issel, Marcus Solomon, Theresa Solomon, Willie Simmers, Veronica Simmers, Neville van der Rheede and Carol van der Rheede, May Prins, Arthur Voegt, Lucille Meyer, Zelda Holtzman, Vernie Petersen, June Petersen, Trevor Oosterwyk, Logan Wort, Donny Jurgens, Eunice Jurgens, Fatima Swartz, Yasmina Swartz, Hilda Paulsen, Marlene Paulsen, Willie Swartz, Leon Swartz, Norman Jantjies, Gael Reagon, and many, many others. If I mention everyone, I could possibly stand here all night.
But let us also celebrate those who have carried the flag for the Mitchells Plain community into our democracy and those who still play a role in the community, such as the people who are involved in this project to celebrate the 50th anniversary and my old comrades in organisations such as the Mitchells Plain Development Action Collective (MPDAC) and the Mitchells Plain Bursary Trust. Let us report on social issues not in a way of recording stuff that happened. But let’s do it in ways that begin to seek solutions to our many problems. This message is not only for those involved in the media. It is also for the community activists who work in the area.
Mitchells Plain has changed a lot from the dormitory township it was in the beginning. Let us help to change even more for the better over the next 50 years. Let us make sure that our story is told properly. And let us start by finding ways of telling our own stories. One of the joys I have every year is attending the Cape Flats Book Festival at Westend Primary School in Lentegeur, and every year I am amazed at the number of Mitchells Plain residents who have written their own books and, often, also published their own stories. I want to encourage more people to write up their stories and I want to encourage those who have the skills to tell stories to help those who do not have the skills. These stories should not necessarily be shared via books, but could also be shared on social media, maybe via short video interviews.
There is an old saying that I first heard years ago from Zane Ibrahim, one of the founders of Bush Radio. He told me that, “Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” I later learned that is a famous African proverb often popularised by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. This resonated with me. If our stories, our history and narratives continue to be written by those who are not from our community or our country, they run the risk of ignoring or misrepresenting our perspectives as a community which has struggled hard to have its voices heard.
Thank you for coming out today and for listening. I hope I have given you some food for thought. I hope there are some among you tonight that will take up my challenge.
Thank you.
(Speech to an event to celebrate the 50th birthday of Mitchell’s Plain on Thursday, 14 May 2026 at Hazeldene Primary School, Portland, Mitchell’s Plain)
