CHILDHOOD: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF ITINERANCY AND DOMESTIC FLUIDITY AMONGST THE KARRETJIE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN KAROO by SARAH ADRIANA STEYN submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the subject ANTHROPOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR M. DE JONGH MARCH 2009 Dedicated to my children, Luke and Sarah-Anne In memory of my siblings, Doria and Francois I declare that Childhood: An Anthropological Study of Itinerancy and Domestic Fluidity Amongst the Karretjie People of the South African Karoo is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. S A Steyn 2009.03.05 “The only difference between them and us is that we are ready to learn from them but they are not ready to learn from us ... in everyday life they must come to recognise us, respect us, value us ... for what we are. Only then will each one of us be able to discover the other”. (Words of a Roma delegate at a Conference organised by the Centre for Gypsy Research at the Université René Descartes, Paris, 1993) ABSTRACT The Karretjie People, or Cart People are a peripatetic community and are descendants of the KhoeKhoen and San, the earliest inhabitants of the Karoo region in South Africa. As a landless and disempowered community they are dependent upon others for food and other basic necessities specifically, and other resources generally. Compared to children in South Africa generally, the Karretjie children are in every sense of the most severely deprived. Their fathers are by and large sheep-shearers, often their only specialised skill, and which is primarily required only on demand and on an irregular and/or seasonal basis. The children’s mothers as keepers of the karretjie (cart) overnight shack, with other adult caretakers, are without predictable income for most of the year. The service that the adult men deliver to the farming community necessitates continuous spatial mobility and is made possible by a cart and donkeys, which also enable them to adapt to changing circumstances. High levels of spatial mobility as well as economic demands on individual domestic units result in inventive utilisation of scarce resources and entails, amongst others, in children oscillating between different karretjie (cart) units. iv In essence, the dissertation comprises the following: · an account of the children’s and their families’ itinerant lives, and in particular an explication of the effects of spatial and domestic mobility and fluidity on domestic circumstances, including fragmentation of families, patterns of residential instability, disrupted schooling and violence. · an explanation of the factors resulting in a more sedentary lifestyle, not only including loss of mobility, but also disintegration of support networks, deteriorating relationships with other communities and pragmatic considerations on the part of parents and caretakers. Keywords Anthropology; Karretjie People; South African Karoo; Childhood studies; Peripatetic communities; Domestic fluidity; Spatial mobility; Socialisation; Informal education; Formal education. ---------------- v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the following people and institutions that have contributed to what has become a unique experience in my life: · My supervisor, Professor Mike de Jongh, for his endured support and guidance, generous time and invaluable advice. I can never thank you enough. · The K. S. Birch Trust whose financial support from 1995 to 1998 was the mainstay of the project. · The University of South Africa for providing financial support since the initial stages of fieldwork. (The views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author and do not reflect those of the University.) · My family, especially my husband, Deon and my parents, Koos and Anna who believed in, supported and encouraged me and always assured me it was possible. · My former colleagues in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Unisa. · Many others emanating from the Karretjie People project, especially Harry and Belinda Gordon for their friendship and hospitality. The completion of the dissertation would not have been possible without the participants in the study and I am sincerely grateful to the following: vi · The Karretjie families at the different outspans who kindly invited me into their homes and shared their lives with me over a period of many years. · Landowners who gave me access to their property to spend time with the Karretjie children, and teachers for allowing me to attend classes and interview the children during school breaks and after school. · And finally, the Karretjie children for their insights, cooperation, enthusiasm and passion. They have taught me much about human resilience and humanity in general. ---------------- vii GLOSSARY Gang A corridor next to a dirt road and close to a windmill or watercourse. An area situated between privately-owned land and property demarcated for official use (i.e. a road). Ge-êg A man and a woman living together as a married couple without having formalised such a union. Karretjie A donkey cart which is the focus of a domestic, social and economic unit because it provides transport for each family and becomes part of the overnight shelter, or is associated with the overnight shelter that each family erects at an outspan. The term karretjie (in italics), denotes the Afrikaans use of (donkey) cart, as opposed to the use of the term Karretjie, representing a noun and referring to the people themselves. Outspan A vacant, ‘neutral’ piece of land belonging to a local or provincial authority which may be legally occupied for no more than 48 hours at a time. Currency Conversion 1 USD = ± 10 ZAR; 1 EUR = ± 13 ZAR; 1 GBP = ± 15 ZAR ---------------- viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... vi GLOSSARY ......................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Introduction 1 The Key Participants in the Study ......................................................................................... 7 1.3 Outline of the Dissertation .............................................................. 17 CHAPTER 2 THE PROBLEM IN CONTEXT: OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY, THEORETICAL CONTEXTUALISATION AND METHODOLOGY 2.1 Objectives of the Study and Problem Orientation ........................... 21 2.2 Theoretical Contextualisation and the Themes of the Study ..................................................................................... 27 2.2.1 Anthropology and Peripatetic Communities ................................... 27 2.2.2 Domestic Units and the Notion of Fluidity ..................................... 34 2.2.3 Anthropology and Childhood .......................................................... 40 2.3 Methodology ................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 3 THE KARRETJIE PEOPLE IN CONTEXT 3.1 Historical Progression ..................................................................... 70 3.2 District and Town of Colesberg: A Profile ..................................... 74 3.3 Lifestyle of the Itinerant Karretjie People ....................................... 82 Page ix 3.3.1 Identity, Outspans and Karretjie Unit Formation and Affiliation ................................................................................. 83 3.3.2 Labour Involvement ........................................................................ 98 3.3.3 Spatial Mobility, Domestic Fluidity and Residential Instability .................................................................... 105 3.3.4 Flexibility and Survival Strategies ................................................ 110 3.3.5 Karretjie People and the Sedentary Community ........................... 114 CHAPTER 4 GROWING UP WITH SPATIAL MOBILITY AND RESIDENTIAL INSTABILITY 4.1 Everyday Life at the Outspan and on Farms ................................. 120 4.1.1 Features of the Seacow River Bridge Outspan .............................. 121 4.1.2 Karretjie Domestic Units .............................................................. 126 4.1.3 Access to Services and Facilities ................................................... 132 4.1.4 The Children’s Activities at the Outspan and on Farms ................................................................................. 134 4.1.5 Child-adult Relationships and Child-child Relationships ................................................................................. 141 4.1.6 Violence at the Outspan ................................................................ 150 4.1.7 The Children’s Labour Practices ................................................... 155 4.2 Spatial Mobility and the Children’s Geographical Settings .......................................................................................... 162 4.3 The Children’s Perceptions and Views of Mobility, Life at an Outspan, on Farms and in Karretjie Homes ............................................................................................ 167 x Page CHAPTER 5 DOMESTIC FLUIDITY, UNSTABLE UNITS AND THE CHILDREN’S SOCIAL SETTINGS 5.1 The Children’s Domestic Histories ............................................... 178 5.1.1 Simon and Marie’s Karretjie Domestic