Malik Hercules
With his three brothers and six sisters, Malik Hercules grew up on Quiet Street, Claremont. Memories of a childhood filled with sports, friends and a close community of neighbours and family remain with him today, and he has passed that strong ethic of loyalty and generosity to his own close-knit family.
Malik and his wife Gaironesa (nee Adams), originally from Wynberg, live in Retreat, Cape Town, where they moved after being forced to move under the Group Areas Act. Their family home is a hub for their children and extended family, and they remain in contact with a small number of former Claremont residents who were also moved to Retreat after the Group Areas evictions.
Malik’s family have a long history in Claremont, with his grandparents having property in Mark Road, and his father owning many properties in Harfield. Sadly, the properties owned by his father were sold off as his mother become progressively ill.
View Malik Hercules’s Photo Archive here.
Gamat Hercules & son, Fuad in Claremont.
A well-known family, Malik’s father, owned a tailor shop name Hercules Ladies and Gents Tailors, located directly opposite the popular Mr Sonday’s shop. He recalls:
“It was quite a landmark because everybody used to gather there & sit the whole road full. There were quite a few guys working in it. I didn’t work there but they used to post me there when I was a bit naughty & so on.”
The shop was a warm, social space where his father would interact with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and professions. From wealthy businessmen to artisans and service personnel, all were welcome at Hercules Ladies & Gents Tailors, and the workmanship and quality of the clothes were well-known.
After they were forced out of Claremont, Malik’s father kept his shop open & would commute from Retreat to Claremont daily. However, with the community moved, the joy and sense of community that was present at the store was lost. Eventually, the shop was closed down as Claremont began being developed into a business & retail district.
“My father, when he lost his shop, he was really cut up. He was old, most of his friends had passed on, and you could see he was really missing that lifestyle. At his shop everybody was always there, working, sitting around – it was a real community life. I don’t think you would see it today, anywhere. He was still there a few years after we were moved. They built The Link there afterward and he never opened a new shop. He was a top tailor – he would work with top guys and so on, and he was always busy – alterations, making suits, and so on. All those English people used to come to Cape Town to have their suits done. I can still remember one time Engelhard from Engelhard Industries came down and they had to block Vineyard Rd. And he came into my father’s shop because he did his suits there, and my father made a joke about what he would do if he had all of his money, and Mr Engelhard said that he would give up all of his money for good health.”
“My father was educated but there were only certain types of work you could do (if you weren’t white). Our options were limited. I work in the building trade now, but back then, in the building trade, for example, there was certain types of work you couldn’t do – like plumbing and electrical work, among other things.”
Friends & Games
Malik had a large friend group and they had many peers in Harfield or Lower Claremont, like Salegga Mustapha and her friends & siblings. “They were a group of girls and we were a group of boys & we used to be friends. We used to meet after school. We were about fifteen guys and every day we were together. Playing sport, and so on. We were surrounded by whites – in our road there were three so-called Coloured families. This document says there were mostly Malays – there were Malays but Coloured people too. But we didn’t notice that some were Malays and some were Coloured or white. We were all in each others’ houses. One of these guys, Harry Heidman was a famous walker. His father too. Two guys used to go along and ride bicycles with them as they did their long walks. That was also a political issue because the two guys were Coloured and Coloured people weren’t supposed to ride with them in support.”
He also recalls the camaraderie among the youth at the time: “We were scouts in the same troop – they (the white scouts) were 1st Claremont & we were 3rd Claremont & eventually they closed us up 3rd Claremont because it was in a white area. There was even a school at St Saviours & they (the government) burned it down. Because the school was integrated. My brother went to that school. There was this Jewish hall and we would go there, they would invite us in & dance with them. There was nothing like ‘hey you, you Moslem guys you can’t come mix with us’ or things like that. You know, nothing like that. That was all things the government stopped. “
Loyalty and Family
The apartheid government not only tore communities apart, but often contributed to the tearing up of families. The Hercules family was faced with the option of being able to identify as white and remain in Claremont under the Group Areas Act. They refused. Family, community, loyalty and religion were of unquestionable value to them, and they maintained their status as Coloured Muslims, and moved when the eviction notices came around.
“Because we were all light skinned with light hair and blue eyes, the government gave us the option of going for the ‘pencil test’ or get out of Claremont. My father said ‘No, we are family oriented and we don’t want to be separated’. They offered him a job down at one of the Western Province schools as a caretaker on the premises and we could live on the premises if he pretended to be white. He said there was no way he would do that. My brother & sister already had E for European on their identity cards, so they had to change it or else we would have been separated. We never questioned it because we are family oriented. We could keep our religion too.”
Malik’s sisters are Rugaya, Galiema, Fariedah, Adielah, Fatima and Zaynap; and his brothers are Fuad, Taliep and Anwar.
Amarien Haron & Taliep Hercules in Johannesburg, conducting a fundraising project.
Malik’s grandfather, Taliep Hercules, was a well-known figure in the Claremont community, and regarded by some as eccentric. Married to Safia, he was a wealthy man who shared much of his wealth with those less-fortunate, particularly in the act of Fitra during Ramadan.
“Eid time you always give Fitra. What Fitra is is that you give to the poor people & the old people. Then my father used to say we must go down to Mannenberg, Hanover Park, and so on. And the old people they would know who you were – Taliep’s Grandson, Gamat’s son. They would come and hug me just because I was his grandson, and then they would tell us the stories about him. He passed away in the early fifties. He would come from the Main Road on a Friday night, and have three guys with him pushing barrows. He had taxis and buses. They would take these barrows and he would send the guys to distribute what he had among the poor people. And what was left over he would take to his family. His philosophy was that he was glad as long as he had his clothes clean and a few cents in his pocket so he could make a bit of noise. He was also an avid cigar smoker.”
Politics & Protests
Malik recalls being educated from an early age by his teachers about the injustices of apartheid. From his early years at Newlands Primary, teachers prepared them to think politically and when they eventually attended Livingstone High School, they were active participants in the fight against apartheid.
“We were prepared politically – we went to school at Newlands Primary and from there you go to Livingstone High. It was one of
the first schools that was politicised. They would prepare you already at Newlands by talking about it – about the way the government is treating people. We practically grew up in Newlands as well, so the teachers would already prepare you then. Now Livingstone, then we were protesting, because we were meeting up with these political guys – Neville Alexander, and guys like these. You become political in that way. I was very headstrong & got into trouble. There was one guy known
as Mr X in the political world – they were all going to gaol – prominent people, they were going to gaol & disappearing
and they were quite young and these are all things that work on you, you know? I didn’t finish at Livingstone because of that.”
With his hard work ethic and ability to learn quickly, Malik Hercules forged a career first in manufacturing, then moving onto large firms like Sasol in an engineering capacity, and then started his own building contracting firm, which he still runs today.
“Because we were really streetwise from an early age in Claremont, I could go into the world working.”