Brian Ridley
‘I come from the Johannesburg area, but I’ve been in Abu Dhabi since 1998. Of course, it’s a lot different here. In the UAE, it’s much safer than what we have in South Africa at the moment. The city has also changed a lot. The biggest mall used to be the Hamdan Centre and we used to have to go to Dubai for Carrefour and places like that.
I came here as a paramedic, but I now also own two butcheries with my brother. It started off in my kitchen. There was no place here that sold proper South African boerewors sausage, so a friend of mine and I started making it at home. Then someone would say, ‘can I buy some off you?’ Eventually, a year and a half later, I was doing about 150kg of meat in my kitchen by myself, so I opened the Wagonwheel butchery with my brother in the capital and later took over the Springbok Butchery in Al Ain.
When I first came, I was involved in trying to set up a South African club. At that stage, though, there were some concerns about the African revenue service trying to find expat South Africans, wanting to get money from them, so it didn’t work very well. The South African community didn’t support it because they thought we would supply their names to the authorities, or something like that.
The community is much bigger now, but as a result it’s more fragmented. Usually there is a strong representation in the church and a lot of South Africans who like their outdoor things: camping, off-roading and rugby.
On April 27, it’s Freedom Day – a South African holiday which celebrates the point at which the government changed from the apartheid system to the current democratic system. Some people call it National Day, others call it Freedom Day. I think National Day is a better description because we’re still not free from war.
Usually, the South African Embassy in Abu Dhabi invites all South Africans in the city (they normally put an ad in the newspaper) to attend the celebrations. There’s always a bit of venison and ostrich, a traditional South African group of dancers; something to make you feel at home.’
Issy Ariefdien
‘I’ve been here for the past nine years. My band and I got a contract through our agent, because the job situation in South Africa was a bit mad. I am from Cape Town, but I regard Abu Dhabi as one of the most peaceful places on earth. You meet so many different people here. In our hotel, when I started, there were about 28 different nationalities; now there are twice as many.
There are quite a few bands here and we meet up sometimes in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. We often end up playing African music – people love it. It’s totally different to western rhythms; it’s got a thumping, sometimes repetitive sound, but with a nice hook. The beat is a bit different from other African styles, but the groove is basically the same.
We played once for the South African Embassy on Freedom Day in Abu Dhabi. It was great – the camaraderie amongst the expats was amazing. I remember the first Freedom Day was a big party. You could see the joy on people’s faces. We performed for Nelson Mandela twice; first on the day he was released, and again in the Western part of Cape Town when he was given the freedom of the city, but unfortunately we didn’t get to meet him.
Freedom Day means a hell of a lot to us. During the Apartheid era – how can I say? – we sacrificed a lot. At first we were regarded as second class citizens; we were completely oppressed. We weren’t physically fighting, but we were fighting for our freedom. I remember the first time I could vote, it was incredible. Before Apartheid ended, non-whites could not hold even a managerial position in South Africa, and now you find that they are CEOs of companies. You are not restricted, so you can live in any area, if you can afford it. Times have certainly changed a lot.’
Freedom Day
April 27 commemorates the day when, in 1994, the first post-apartheid elections were held in South Africa. Under the apartheid regime, widespread oppression by the authorities meant that non-whites only had limited rights and movement within the country, as well as restricted voting. Freedom Day marks the first non-racial national elections, where everyone of voting age (over 18) from any race group was allowed to vote. Since then it has been celebrated as both Freedom Day and National Day.
