One of the properties in Constantia in Cape Town (supplied)
The writer, who has asked to remain anonymous says there is no place in our country for uncaring and heartless attitudes which are often seen on some Facebook groups.
My journey to this point began when I caught a glimpse of some of the conversations on “The Constantia Society” Facebook group.
The talk on the group focused on people who clearly didn’t have much, and had found their way to a plot of vacant land on the borders of Constantia in Cape Town. The group’s conversations moved me to contemplate Constantia’s place in this country, as we try to move forward from a horrible past that still haunts us.
A little caveat before continuing: when I refer to “Constantia” in this piece, I’m not referring to Constantia as a place (as a geographic location). Nor am I even referring to everyone in Constantia. I’m referring to a mindset.
Its a mindset that seems to be popular in the Constantia Society Facebook group.
I’m calling this mindset “Constantia”, in the same way that people referred to the 1918 Flu Epidemic as the Spanish Flu: it no doubt occurred in other places, but it was noticed (by the media) in Spain. And even though not everyone in Spain had it, for ease of reference it was still called the Spanish Flu.
So what is this mindset?
It began with the following post:
This caused the majority of the group to passionately vie for eviction. Now I am not dissecting every reprehensible thing about every social media post, but instead looking at the underlying mindset; one that comes from a place of extreme privilege and disregards human welfare and dignity for the preservation of that privilege. You can see “Constantia” at play, when a more empathetic approach (that evicting homeless people during lockdown was heartless) was suggested:
This was met immediately with the reply, “the area value will plunge!” This was followed by overwhelming support for the poster, which culminated in:
Does this kind of mindset have a place in this country as we try repair it?
Present-day Constantia (the place, not the a mindset) is an island of sorts, where the majority of the population is wealthy and white.
But it wasn’t always so.
First it was a rural wine region, built in the 1700s through one of the largest instances of slavery in the Cape. After their emancipation, freed former slaves stayed and built a society and a way of life until the Group Areas Act of apartheid was introduced and saw people being removed to the Cape Flats.
Now to the present situation. Those that have moved into the open space are living under tarps and blankets. The average Constantia house is a mansion. Whatever your stance on the matter may be, when someone comments from their mansion that a family living under a tarp is “asking for too much”, something just seems inherently twisted.
It is important to note that not everyone in Constantia is suffering from “Constantia”.
There are examples of Constantia residents who do use their privilege in constructive, empathetic, and humanitarian ways. These observations are by no means directed at everyone in the area, they are just a descriptor of the majority mindset that seems prevalent on the Constantia Society Facebook group.
In short, “Constantia”‘is a mindset sometimes seen in the wealthiest of our population where people seem to care more about their heated towel rails than other human beings’ life.
One of the most popular replies I’ve seen on the group to people who tried, in vain, to argue similar things is: “Why don’t we bring a bakkie to relocate them to your garden then?”
This ruthlessness and heartlessness is indicative of a much larger problem.
So much needs to be fixed, and so few of the people who are in a position to do so are doing it.
In my own humble opinion, if there is a path to remedying the many problems in this country, ‘Constantia’ will play no part in making it better, and will only serve to make it worse.
Perhaps it’s time then to bring “Constantia” down.
– A Fellow White.
