For centuries, South Africa has struggled to define who a person of color is. The colonial state assigned this classification, and the apartheid regime institutionalized it. Even in a democratic society, this categorization persists, and political parties actively appeal to this population group. Census forms also account for their affiliation, yet the question of their true self-identification remains extremely ambiguous.
The paradox is that the more effort is made to reject racial categorization, the more likely society is to adopt the very system it is trying to escape. This applies to all ethnic groups. It may take another three hundred years to overcome the residual identities of apartheid that continue to impede the formation of a unified national identity.
Several figures, including Cissie Gool, Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, Richard van der Ross, Frank Quint, Richard Rive, Adam Small, Jakes Gerwel, as well as teachers like Harold Cressy, have attempted to change the understanding of what it means to be Coloured and South African.
The author recalls how his mentors, Alex Tabisher and Jakes Gerwel, instilled in him a sense of self-worth while studying the language, history, and culture of his heritage, while avoiding negative nationalism. They showed him ways to construct political narratives that were not based on ethnic or racial affiliation, demonstrating that history has both positive and negative trajectories. He was taught the value of understanding this history without turning it into an ethnic nationalist crusade. Cultural identity itself is not the problem; ethnic nationalism is the problem.
Each generation either strives to create a better version of its history or becomes part of the problem it seeks to solve. Fadzel Adams's problem is not a lack of history, but a lack of an intellectually grounded connection to it, as well as a lack of mentors who can help him with this. The collective failure to comprehend a certain human existence manifested in Fadzel Adams's actions at the Madlanga Commission.
It is easy to dismiss Mr. Adams as an ethnic nationalist and an extreme, vulgar populist. He certainly exhibits traits of such a person. His absurdity, bravado, and boasting help define him as a man who, faced with the heavy problems of the Coloured population in South Africa, decided to enter the fight without possessing the necessary skills. His main difficulty is the inability to structure and organize his thoughts and choose his words. What he puts out is a stream of words without sufficient intellectual structure, bordering on verbal diarrhea. He is not alone in this; it is a problem for many of our political leaders.
Driven by a just cause, they are unable to process ideas properly or articulate them adequately. They lack the skills to illuminate our painful history in a way that promotes a national goal with which the nation can collectively unite and be proud.
Since the departure of figures such as Wilmot James, Franklin Sone, and Jakes Gerwel from contemporary political life, the intellectual and political character of Coloured leadership has 'stagnated' in bouts of meaningless evangelical fervor. Coloured people in the ANC find themselves politically marginalized. In the DA, they are considered traitors. In the ACDP, they are viewed merely as community members.
Falling into the position of a political minority and being perceived as traitors has spawned numerous 'Coloured parties,' each attempting to give Coloured people a 'stronger voice.' These ethnically focused ventures have destroyed any sense of building patriotism for the entire South African population. They have divided into an ethnic electoral bloc that increasingly views its Black, White, Indian, and immigrant brethren as enemies.
From competing communities of Khoi and San and their numerous tribal subgroups to various provincial Coloured associations, they have devolved into an exploited ethnic group, ready for exploitation by leaders such as Mr. Adams, Mr. McKenzie, Mr. Fransman, the ACDP, and many others seeking the votes of this group.
These parties have reduced the goal of building a national patriotism that all residents of South Africa could associate with, grow with, and live by, to self-satisfied ethnic martyrdom and exploitation. The political and economic exploitation they have uncovered is not mistaken—it is historical and current. The problem is that they have no plan to fix the situation; they only have rhetoric that incites ethnic nationalism. They lie to people whom they promise help. They themselves have become those who exploit the pain of the Coloured population.
Mr. Adams should have presented the country with a better version of itself at the Madlanga Commission. Instead, he turned it into a shameful display of how he leads those he supposedly represents. Some welcome his speech as authentic. We, who grew up and lived in these communities and studied the history of our people, know such behavior as absurdity and boasting. There is no decorum that distinguishes such leadership and its voices as virtuous and worthy of emulation. His leadership lacks political substance or a higher level of comprehension.
In 2024, the author appealed to the media through this column to take Mr. Adams and Mr. McKenzie seriously and include them in election debates, as they represent deep issues affecting the Coloured community. The author hoped that their participation in major debates would raise their educational level and ensure a more informed political voice. Sons and daughters of Coloured descent were simply electoral material for a number of white political parties that did not do much to improve their lives.
People of color rightly felt that their economic and political well-being was being exploited. This created fertile ground for the factor of 'gatvol' to become a significant part of our political narrative. This factor will grow, and it should grow. However, Mr. Adams, along with Mr. McKenzie and other ethnic nationalists, spoiled the moment for the country to see that there was intellect in their cause.
They failed to demonstrate that they were driven not by ethnic nationalism, but by a deep concern for all exploited communities. But especially they let down the poorest Coloured people—those who truly feel 'gatvol'—who hoped to be led with dignity and intelligence toward a better future. Their pain caused by poverty, their daily violent deaths, and their distorted identity remain unresolved.