I'm Chevãn Van Rooi, the Kaapse Student -- a linguistics PhD candidate doing a joint PhD between the University of the Western Cape (South Africa) and Utrecht University (The Netherlands). I've been awarded a four-year NRF-Nuffic PhD scholarship, and I'm a recipient of a Zuid-Afrika Huis PhD scholarship.

Kaapse Student? I'm from Cape Town, which translated into Kaaps / Afrikaans, is often "Kaap" (e.g. Ek is vanni Kaap ['I'm from Cape Town']). The second meaning is related to my study, or rather the language on which my study is focused, Kaaps. So, I'm the student doing his study on Kaaps, die Kaapse Student ('Student of Kaaps'). 

Kaaps

Kaaps, as its name suggests, has its roots in Cape Town. It has a rich history and is spoken predominantly on the Cape Flats in South Africa. Just as a gold mine holds valuable treasures beneath the earth's surface, Kaaps is a linguistic treasure trove deeply rooted in the history and culture of the Cape. Syntactically, who knows what we will discover? 

Kaaps is often referred to and spoken of as a "variety of Afrikaans". To an extent this idea, I think, has the potential to create the impression that Kaaps is a 'lesser than' version of what we know as standard Afrikaans. And I don't think this is a productive way to think about Kaaps. Instead, Michael le Corduer argues, and rightfully so, I'd say, that Kaaps is not swak Afrikaans [weak or poor Afrikaans], as standard Afrikaans is not ’n meer korrekte vorm van Afrikaans [a more correct form of Afrikaans]. Instead, le Cordeur argues that Kaaps is a different variety. And this is an important claim, I believe - that Kaaps is a different variety. As such, Kaaps is a language that should be taken seriously as one that can fulfil a full range of functions, formally and informally.