In Ocean View, it's quite common to refer to an older person as Auntie or Uncle. This is a Coloured cultural tradition that you will hear all over South Africa, but especially in Cape Town. Isabel, local director of Havilah Collective in Ocean View, explains her culture like this:
When calling older folk aunties and uncles ,that is showing respect to elders. The colored people / culture is a very respectfully and loving nation. Their hard side comes from past or suppressed pain and injustice. An aunt or uncle could also be seen as an other parent when ones parent is not around. It comes from the saying; Your child is my child.
Beautiful, isn't it?
Are you wondering about the word "Coloured" in the above post? It is a racial term that describes a distinct people group. South Africa has a complicated past. Here's a brief explanation from good 'ol Wikipedia:
The apartheid-era Population Registration Act, 1950 and subsequent amendments codified the Coloured identity and defined its subgroups, including Cape Coloureds and Malays. Indian South Africans were initially classified under the act as a subgroup of Coloured. As a consequence of Apartheid policies and despite the abolition of the Population Registration Act in 1991, Coloureds are regarded as one of four race groups in South Africa. These groups (blacks, whites, Coloureds and Indians) still tend to have strong racial identities and to classify themselves and others as members of these race groups.
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