South Africans

‘going into Africa’

November 7, 2011

by Dylan Valley

My friend Chipo recently sent me this pilot of a documentary travel series entitled Going Native. Not only was I pleasantly surprised to find Chipo in the pilot as one of the characters, but also found the concept and execution totally refreshing.

 
Tshego Molete, one of the show’s creators, describes Going Native as

“a travelogue series looking at the continent through the eyes of three young Southern African women. It explores notions of African being, not through conflict or strife, but through celebration… these three young women set out to ‘explore’ the motherland by visiting various cultural festivals and gatherings, hoping to learn how they too are a part of the continent as opposed to being separate from it.

What I found most poignant about the pilot (besides the fact that it’s a female led endeavor) was the admittance and interrogation of how South(ern) Africans see themselves as somehow different to the rest of the continent. I remember how, growing up in Cape Town, people used to talk about going “into Africa.”  This is also where the title comes in. Tshego explains it as a satirical take on the notion of “Going Native”, which was a term used in colonial Africa describing Europeans who came to Africa who then proceeded to acquire some “native” traits. “We take that notion and subvert by applying it to people of the continent, who have been born and bred here, but somehow manage to make the distinction between themselves and the continent.”

Going Native is a Happy Brown Babies production. They are currently working on developing the show into a full series. I can’t wait to see it. Check out more of their work here.