Klaverjas and the Hidden Sporting Heritage of South Africa
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A01=Hendrik Snyders
A01=Leonard Jacobs
Author_Hendrik Snyders
Author_Leonard Jacobs
Black communities
Cards
Category=JHBS
Category=NHTB
Category=SCX
Category=WDMC
colonial history
cultural history
Dutch history
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eq_history
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eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
eq_sports-fitness
games
sports history
subaltern heritage
Product details
- ISBN 9789048565047
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 29 May 2026
- Publisher: Pallas Publications
- Publication City/Country: NL
- Product Form: Hardback
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As a collective, klaverjas players form a distinct community of practice with a unique organisational discourse, language, and set of socialisation practices. Given its prevalence within South Africa’s Black communities, klawerjas, as it is locally known, is perceived as both the traditional game of the communities in question and a marker of a particular regional ethnic identity. The history of klaverjas is part of the unmapped sporting heritage of South Africa’s Black communities, whose true extent and meaning have long remained obscured. This book maps the development of klaverjas, its consolidation, its unique local character, and its intersections with broader societal events. It places competitive klaverjas in the mainstream of South Africa’s sports history and claims its place as a part of the country’s national sports identity.
Dr Hendrik Snyders is a Research Fellow at the National Museum and Free State University in Bloemfontein, South Africa. His research broadly focuses on identity, masculinity, and cultural heritage. He recently published Blitzboks: A History of Rugby Sevens in South Africa, and Rough Diamonds, A History of South African Baseball. Leonard Jacobs is a retired klaverjas player based in Cape Town and a former executive committee member of a number of regional associations. He is also a founder member of the South African Klawerjas Board of Control and has served organised klawerjas in South Africa for more than forty years.
