As we celebrate the resurrection of Hanover Street this Heritage Day, many of us who grew up here reflect on the proud heritage and street culture of this vital artery that connects the city centre to the eastern city bowl.
One of our proudest Hanover Street stories is about sport, an obscure Asian sport called dam-daman and those who became its local champions, much like the chess grand masters of our popular culture today.
Hanover Street was the lifeblood of the district and an important part of our heritage and cultural identity. We have been dreaming of the day that the name of Keizersgracht, imposed by the men with the bulldozers, would fall.
In Hanover Street, dam-daman was central to the street culture. It was a game that the ancestors of slaves have been playing in the Cape for more than 300 years.
In District Six it was played in Minnoe Majiet’s barber shop near the Avalon bioscope during the day, and at Abass’s fruit and vegetable store opposite the fish market in Hanover Street after dark.
It was a game that sparked great friendships and social cohesion.
The game came to the Cape through the East-Indian slave trade under Dutch rule, and goes by various names around the world.
Ratti-chitti-bakri in India, checkers, roundabouts and draughts in English-
speaking countries, and surakarta in France and some parts of the East.
In the Philippines it is known today as damath, as it is used as a teaching tool for maths. The real name of the game is believed to be permainan, which is the Malay word for “game”.
Some of the most active dam-
daman clubs that originated in the Cape were based in District Six, Bo-Kaap, Salt River, Woodstock, Claremont, Wynberg, Paarl and Athlone. There was also a strong club in Johannesburg.
Some of the most colourful local champions of the game were from District Six: Gilmie Behardien, now 72, has remained the reigning champion for the past 40 years. Abdul Azies “Boeta Jolly” Sedick dominated the game in the 1960s, and Sheikh Manie Samsodien was the champ in the 1950s.
And let’s not forget the legends: Hashiem Davids, Hadji Zain “Gewiggie” Alexander, Imam Amien “Amienriya” Basardien (my grand-
pa), Boeta Niefie Snies, Boeta “Haka” Galant, and Boeta Pat O’Connor.
But Gilmie was undoubtedly the greatest master strategist of the lot, and defeated all his mentors to become the best dam-daman player in local history. The story goes that sometime in the early 1970s in Hanover Street, Boeta invited Gilmie to a match.
To his surprise the youngster defeated him, sparking a rumour that a new champion was on the rise as well as a lifelong friendship between the two men.
Boeta was a famed builder and deeply religious man who performed Hajj 12 times, and showed his admiration for Gilmie by building rooms on to his house at no charge.
After the forced removals, Gilmie went on to become the principal of Talfalah Primary School in Manenberg - a position he was appointed to by a fellow player and predecessor principal Haka Galant. He continued to be a dam-daman mentor and proponent of life-long learning for his pupils.
As the children of District Six, we want to return to our home - and we want to see our children and children’s children getting a good education here once again. So many children from District Six had their education interrupted by the forced removals.
Considering that South Africa now has the lowest rate for Grade 10-12 maths in the world, and that some of our children's schools are among those poor performers, we should strongly consider reintroducing teaching tools such as dam-daman for maths to turn things around.
While providing a welcome injection of intellectualism in our youth, it will also provide distraction from drug abuse, gender-based violence and crime in our communities. This is why we are going to resurrect the sport of dam-daman in District Six.
The first tournament will take place in Hanover Street on the day we return to the land. The game will be introduced in our schools and a new league structure will be set up.
People like me, Gilmie and his son Nabeal Behardien, as well as members of the District Six working committee, will spearhead this initiative and we call on others to join us.
Let us make this incredible sport part of the Hanover Street culture once more. Let us create a new generation of ambitious and motivated dam-
daman champions in District Six. Let us not lose this precious part of our heritage. And let our people play and live and enjoy life in Hanover Street once again.
Dr Basardien is the campus director of Cape Town Varsity in Rosebank, Cape Town, and chief operating officer and founder of the consultancy Africa Green Energy Technologies.