It seems like most towns in South Africa conjures up politics (in me). Or, it seems that most towns I visit are drenched in politics due to various reasons. Hartenbos, South Africa, close to Mosselbay, is another one of those towns that are drenched in politics. Being one of the central vacation places for "Afrikaners" (i.e., Afrikaans speaking people) I cannot but help to get political about this town. Not necessarily about racism (as South Africa is pretty much still steeped in this problem) but about language. And the politics surrounded by language. This is because I am an Afrikaans speaker, but I do not necessarily identify as an "Afrikaner".

In this post, I will take you through an interesting town, some of its politics, all whilst I eat some mini donuts and drink some overly sugary water. All this sugar makes me very political and being a philosopher, I also question my own identity in the "bigger" scheme of things. So please join me on this rather political tour through a town that my culture for some reason took over. At least I got some sugary treats from this!

Koos Kombuis, Politics, and Language Identity

I want to begin with a lengthy quote from my favorite artist and poet, Koos Kombuis. According to Wikipedia, he wrote it but they do not share any sources from where they found it. In any case, irrespective of who said it, I think the quote sums this town up quite nicely:

"As a child, Hartenbos symbolised to me everything that is positive, beautiful and noble about humanity. The fact that my parents could not afford anything better than a very small asbestos home right next to the railway line did not bother me...with the years Hartenbos has not changed much...even though the seafront restaurant is now licensed [to sell liquor] the ooms and tannies (not just their children) still drink pink milkshakes after Sunday lunch. On the dirt roads of Hartenbos, the play of growing up is performed every season... But Hartenbos is not white anymore. Afrikaans, yes, but indeed multi-racial... How did the ATKV manage that? They did nothing. It just happened. Virtually overnight... It's high time the whole of South Africa learns the pure zen of Hartenbos."

Two things stand out for me about this quote:

1. The performance of playing growing up, and
2. The zealous need for the Afrikaner, even if to the detriment of their own health, to own something in Hartenbos.

Performing Growing Up

When you visit the local Spur restaurant (with its classic appropriated and stylized images of native Americans) in Hartenbos, you will get old people and young people drinking their milkshakes. As in the quote above, this has been a thing from the inception of Hartenbos. I remember getting them when I was younger visiting there the first time, and with my latest visit, I saw old and young drinking milkshakes. A classic image of an old grandfather drinking a pink milkshake played off next to me. Obviously, I could not photograph it, but I wish I could. I think this image classically embodies the quote above of the performance of growing up in Hartenbos. You truly never grow up, even in your old age, you still play the "youngster" visiting Hartenbos on your way to growing up.

I myself am not a fan of these chain restaurants. They are expensive (for no other reason than they know people are willing to pay) and they are not that great. Plus, the imagery is so out of sorts in South Africa, one could not make this up. (Side rant: what do native Americans have to do with South African and how did it even get so popular? Maybe it was a safe option as the political implications would have been non-existent.) In any case, my brother's wife wanted to visit as she loves the place so we went for some nice nachos and beers (and not milkshakes because rebels!).

| Eating Nachos in a native American stylized restuarant in Africa. |

| Interior of the Spur |

Zealous Need for Property

As mentioned in the quote above, people want property in Hartenbos, but if not, people will camp. There are vast amounts of land that become available to campers. It gets so busy that people latch their tents to each other. It becomes one big camp or tent. Everyone mix and chat and cook together. You listen to the guy next to you snore, and you help the lady next door to do the washing. It becomes one big community, but there is a caveat: it is a gathering of one culture: Afrikaners.

| Hartenbos Camp Ground |

If you know anything about South African politics, you will know the part "Afrikaner Culture" played in it. Especially the church, but I am not here to write about the past, but the present. It is interesting how one big culture gets together. Irrespective of where people come from (Gauteng, Free state, Western Cape, and so on) Afrikaners get together here and stay in a weird "safe haven" for people. Safe haven in the sense that children run freely and adults give them this freedom. Again, in broader South Africa, even I feel rather unsafe to do this. But getting everyone here in such a close-knit community, the broader politics in South Africa wash away.

| Photograph from within a tent: room with a view (onto your neighbor's camp!) |

In any case, you relinquish your privacy for safety. Interesting. But this has bigger implications, it shows the cracks in modern South Africa. Some groups do not feel "safe" and "at home" with others. South Africa is not the safest place to be, but furthering the divide between Us and Them just fuels politics. And again, this has nothing to do with the color of skin, but the identity politics linked to language.

| Refueling Donuts |

| Mini Donuts! |

| More Donuts |

I think I am running out of sugar to continue politics. Onto the beauty!

Coastal Region: Beautiful Nature

The area is situated on massive and long stretched of beaches. It lures you to walk on them for hours on end. The whole area is one long beach, but driving in the area you get more areas that are just beaches. Twenty minutes drive will get you to a place called Boggoms bay, and there is also just beach on beach on the beach. It is definitely the wanderer's paradise.

The beauty is somewhat trampled by the vast amounts of people who visit. I walked alongside a beach where endangered species of birds got chased down by dogs. This to me is so sad because of the long-term damages that occur at places like these. But for the time being, one can only enjoy the little of the beauty that is left.

Locking Your Love In

A long gate is littered with locks. On every lock, there is a name and a date. I guess these are locks of love of young people who meet and never meet again ... wait we are living in 2022 and people keep in touch over the internet. Okay, I guess these are the locks of loved ones that still keep in touch and want to think about the past, nostalgia, always present. This links also with the above quote, never growing up, or always performing the growing up. In any case, it is a nice gesture to "lock-up" one's love.

Ending on a Funny Note

Walking back to the care, I stumbled upon this sign:

No golf, archery, javelin or hockey.

This is oddly specific. I can understand golf and hockey, as these are popular sports. But where in the world did archery and javelin come from? Who practiced these sports on this ground? I mean, the sign would not have been this specific if someone did not practice these sports there? This made me laugh, still high on sugar and my political rant. I can only imagine someone trying to practice javelin or archery in a rather crowded open field. Funny, or let us hope not sad!

Nota Bene or Post Scriptum

This is a rather one-sided opinion piece. As mentioned, I am Afrikaans speaking but I do not follow Afrikaner Ideology (I call this ideology because in some sense it is, but this is again a subjective statement). This is a kind of touchy subject but I feel inclined to write about it because why not. In any case, all of the images are mine, taken with an overpriced iPhone. All of the musings are also mine, although inspired by my readings of radical political figures, unless stated otherwise. I like the town and I love the donuts, but I am not sold on the identity politics regarding language.

I hope you enjoyed this political tour through Hartenbos! Let us hope for more mini donuts and more sugary drinks, but only once a year. Stay safe and happy travels.