Bergie is a term used for a subsection of

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

people in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The word originates from the

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

''berg'' meaning "mountain" – the term originally referred to the homeless people who sheltered in the forests of the slopes of

Table Mountain Table Mountain (; ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, cableway or hik ...

. The synonymous term stroller typically refers to

street children Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids, or urchins; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers ...

living a bergie lifestyle. They are

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

s and

scavenger Scavengers are animals that consume Corpse decomposition, dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a he ...

s, sometimes begging, performing odd jobs or working as informal car guards for tips. Most of them are

Cape Coloureds Cape Coloureds () are a South African group of Coloured people who are from the Cape region in South Africa which consists of the Western Cape, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. Their ancestry comes from the interracial mixing between the ...

who speak

mixed with a few

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

terms, and are known for their sense of humour, vulgar language and alcohol consumption. Their lifestyle is portrayed in the 1987 novel ''The Strollers'' by

Lesley Beake Lesley Beake (born 1949) is a Scottish-born South African children's author. Life Lesley Beake was born and went to school in Edinburgh, Scotland. She lives in South Africa, where she has worked as a teacher. Her children's novels, "which address ...

, the 1998 documentary film ''Pavement Aristocrats: The Bergies of Cape Town'' by

François Verster François Verster (born 1969) is an independent South African film director and documentary maker. He has a wide background in writing, music, academia and film. After completing an MA degree with distinction under literature Nobel Prize lau ...

, and the play ''Suip!'', a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

co-written and directed by Heinrich Reisenhofer. Bergie, an award-winning short film by Dian Weys, depicts how a law enforcement officer removes people that are homeless in order to make way for a 10km fun-run.

References

Homelessness Cape Town culture South African English Afrikaans words and phrases {{homelessness-stub

See also

References