I am a REBEL IN MY OWN LIGHT.

Known as an “outcast” to my Xhosa people and seen as a “coconut” to my Coloured people, I am just another humble contributor from Live Cape Town. I pride myself in not conforming to any of my racial classifications on my journey to self discovery, whilst being at Live.

The Name: Excuse me? Wat? Uthini?

I always tell people to call me Sivuyile or just plain old Sivu. There is always an awkward pause when I tell people my name because they are trying to work out whether I’m coloured or black. At this point I laugh a little to myself because, my dad is Xhosa and mum is a little coloured lady – and they made me – half Xhosa half coloured. It’s that simple but to most people I’m neither… apparently “I’m confused.”

The Hair: is that your own hair or a weave?

Your name can’t be Sivuyile with hair like that? Excuse me? This is another one of the ridiculous questions I deal with on a daily basis. So uhmmm you wrote the book on hair texture vs names? How frustrating. I however,  just see it as another opportunity to boast about my background and how I really just don’t give a sh#t about my hair or that fact that it does not ‘suit’ my name or whatever race people think I should be.

The accent: Uyathetha? Praat jy Akrikaans? Why do you sound so white?

So shoot me because can’t speak Xhosa and only know enough Afikaans to be gangsta and get guys to back off. English is a universal language and frankly if speaking proper English means I sound white, so be it. The way I see it I was wise enough to learn a language the majority of the world understands, be thankful I did not decide to learn French!

A Rebel in Her Own Light:

My time at Live has been brief yet life changing. The one place that I walked into without being bombarded with questions about who I am or where I come from. Instead I was embraced for conforming to my own rules, rebelling against the confines of the racial classes I was born into. #keepingitreal.