I.D. du Plessis

I.D. du Plessis) (1900-1981) was a scholar and poet

Born Izak David du Plessis, but writing under the nom de plume of I.D. du Plessis, he undertook extensive research and wrote prolifically about the Cape Malays people and culture. There are those who claim that he actually invented the concept of the “Cape Malay” and the cultural traditions of that group (ref??**). He was Commisioner of Coloured Affairs in the Apartheid Government (1950-63).

His importance for the stage is the way in which the cultural traditions he espoused have produced the so called “stage Malay”, based on the traditions he recorded and/or invented. In a way the re-succitation of the Cape Coon Carnival after it had been banned was also one of his projects. (De Beer, 1995;**)

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