Telling the stories of mense on the Cape Flats is a passion for Stanley Jacobs.
Stanley, in case you didn’t know, is the brains behind the hugely popular Facebook page Cape Flats Stories, where he has been entertaining viewers with memes and memorable moments which are exclusive to the Flats.
The 43-year-old grew up in Parkwood but later relocated to Grassy Park, where he learnt from his mom the importance of keeping memories and history alive through story-telling.
“I watched how my mom would help the community through her soup kitchen and listened to the stories that were told,” he explains.
“That was like a way of feeding me too, because since then I knew that I wanted to tell our people’s stories.”
Cape Flats Stories was launched in 2018, and currently has over 354 000 followers.
Stanley shares not only interesting stories, memories and jokes, but also important news affecting the Cape Flats.
In addition, he does live interviews with ward councillors, business owners and community leaders, and also promotes local businesses and other opportunities for mense on the Flats.
One of his posts in 2018, about the City of Cape Town’s new shotspotter initiative in Hanover Park, was viewed over three million times.
“I promise, when I started the page, it was on a morning when I just woke up and told myself, ‘I am gonna do something positive’, and it hasn’t always been easy but we made it work,” he says.
Stanley wants people to know that there is so much more than gangsterism, drugs and crime on the Flats.
“The page was started to tell people’s stories. Many times we hear of stories that are so amazing, so outstanding, but there is no documentation of it, especially people’s life stories.
“I mean, look at when you search our people’s history; you hear Henry the Strandloper was a dronkie, or Krotoa was sleg, but you never hear of the good things, that’s why I started this; to highlight the struggles and the positive sides.”
The married dad of two, who now lives in Strandfontein, has a full-time job as an IT specialist but says his aim is to build an archive of history for generations to come, so that Cape Flats Stories doesn’t die out.
He has also written two books, Cape Flats Love Affair, a novel, and Cape Flats Undercover, which focuses on GBV issues, social ills and other issues affecting the Flats.
To purchase a copy of his books, email info@capeflatsstories.co.za.
Books are retailing at R150.
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za