“I didn’t see ordinary African women. I want to decolonize drag and bring in the African perspective so that is my thing. I make drag revolutionary because I use my drag as a part of my activism. My drag is a symbol of representation.”
Belinda Qaqamba Ka-Fassie’s eyes gleam over as they* describe just one of the many dreams that they hope to accomplish through their beloved art – drag.
Abenathi Makinana takes on the persona of Belinda Qaqamba Ka-Fassie. PHOTO: Vuyokazi Mbutho.
A Post-Graduate Certificate in Education student at the University of Stellenbosch, Ka-Fassie started doing drag when they first started going to queer clubs. It was here that they developed a love for cross-dressing, deciding to take it to the next level and make it a career. “I call it my career. It’s my little baby,” they laugh.
Currently one of the top ten participants in the pageant, Miss Drag South Africa, Ka-Fassie describes drag as allowing for the expression of the queer imagination. They describe it as there being no box. “It is literally a way of expressing yourself, the way you feel, the way you see yourself and the world,” they explain.
The biggest goal for Ka-Fassie has always been winning Miss Drag SA. Having won numerous other pageants, such as Miss Gay Western Cape, they see this national pageant as a way in which to expand their drag and become a public figure and role model.
Miss Drag SA acts as an inclusive pageant for drag queens, genderqueer and trans-bodies. It aims to inspire South Africans to advocate for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as drag culture in general. It is with this in mind that pageant participants are required to conduct a charity project. The winner of the pageant is judged both on the project and delivery on stage. The final decision – the Crowning Gala – will be held on the 4th of October in Pretoria.
Ka-Fassie is one of the top ten finalists of Miss Drag South Africa. PHOTO: Vuyokazi Mbutho.
For four years, Ka-Fassie has been running the Simon Nkoli project. While it is now their charity project for the pageant, it began as a way of starting a conversation in Stellenbosch, around race and exclusion, as well as queerness and exclusion.
Under the banner of this project, Ka-Fassie has been collaborating with South African creative, Lee-Anne Olwage in a project called #BlackDragMagic. It is here that they work with victims of queerphobia and transphobia, within townships such as Khayelitsha, Kayamandi and Delft, among others.
However, it is not this project that makes Ka-Fassie stand out. “I am one of, I think, a few black drag queens – I can count on one hand – in Cape Town,” says Makinana. They explain that drag is largely dominated by coloured people and in fact, considered to be part of coloured culture. “And when I started doing drag, people from black communities asked me why I was assimilating to coloured culture,” they point out. However, Ka-Fassie strongly believes that drag is an art for everyone.
Ka-Fassie has won various other drag pageants. PHOTO: Larry English.
Ka-Fassie has plans for the future. But they light up when speaking about the platform that winning Miss Drag SA will bring. “I will travel South Africa and keep the queer spirit alive. And also touch lives. I want to do that my whole life,” they smile.
*Some gender non-binary, or genderqueer, people prefer the use of gender-neutral pronouns such as they, their and them – as seen throughout this article.