The Enigma Mansion in the exclusive Cape Town suburb of Camps Bay is a monument to excess and any time someone throws a public party there, it’s bound to draw some attention. Just ask So, Happy in Cape Town, which runs what it calls a “limited series of exclusive, bespoke pop-up events”. It’s inspired a parody website with a strong social message.
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According to So, Happy in Cape Town’s Facebook page, the events “bring together the elite of society, relevant icons and influencers of the social scene”. The next event, to be held at the Enigma Mansion, will be held on 16 December, South Africa’s Day of Reconciliation and will set attendees back R1 500 a ticket.
The parody site takes umbrage with this exclusivity, poking holes in a number of aspects of the party.
The section entitled, “Party With The Elite” for instance says:
Too much colour at Holi-one? Sharing with the other trustafarians at Afrikaburn a bit too Waldorf for you? Finished cleansing your neighbourhood of people who look like prostitutes?
Once you’re done visiting daddy at the wine farm, hop back in the Maserati, grab your Louis Vuitton, drape yourself in a bit of Versace and come join your fellow Bishops alumni at the gathering of the year: So, Happy in Cape Town!
It also deals with the organisers’ attempts to make sure the no “rabble” arrive at the party:
Our first event was foolishly under-priced at R500 a ticket. Because of this, a whole bunch of scruffy opportunists rocked up in last year’s Diesel and really just brought the whole vibe down.
By pricing our gathering at a much more reasonable R1 500 we’re eliminating a whole class of wannabe nouveau riche tools in their entry-level Mercs and off-the-rail outfits.
And what it perceives to be a likely lack of racial diversity:
Our party is on the Day of something or other about the rainbow nation and Madiba and stuff, so we think everyone should be able to celebrate together.
Unfortunately, we also know how some of those people like to party, so as long as you can assure us that your friend speaks proper English and went to the right schools, we’re kind of cool with it. Well, if it’s really that important to you that is. It shouldn’t be a problem though. Not really.
The real reason for the parody site, put together in support of the Anarchist Book Fair, is revealed in the section entitled “Class War”:
If you stumbled across this insipid, bourgeois party for hyper-pampered rich kids and thought to yourself, “it’s just a bunch of extremely fortunate people having a party, I should let them be,” then you’re missing out on something: this isn’t just a party, it’s a celebration.
A celebration of ill-earned wealth gained from the exploited labour of others. A celebration of hundreds of years of white supremacy. A celebration of a sociopathic economic system, supported by a corrupt state, that rewards the very worst among us.
This party – and everything in Cape Town like it – is a celebration of war. It is a war we were all born into and it is a war that THEY are currently winning. The war of those with wealth and power, property and privilege, against all the rest of us.
In the face of this we can resign ourselves to our lot, silently resenting the vapid rich kids of Camps Bay, or we can recognise which side we’re on and, once we have…
For its part, the actual party organiser appears to be treating the site as if it’s just the latest stunt from a slightly rebellious younger sibling.
On its Facebook page, it writes:
We’re flattered by the excitement to our event. Unfortunately we’re not behind sohappyincapetown.co.za in any way.Thanks for sharing though, it’s been a mad week & we all deserve a morning laugh. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement noticed. At all.
See you all soon.
