Xeni Jardin, Yo-Landi (die Antwoord) & Philip Nelson (cropped)

Zef () is a South African

counter-culture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

movement. Kyle Hans Brockmann has compared zef counter-culture to many similar anarchic sub-cultures in the

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

Etymology

Yolandi Visser Anri du Toit, known professionally as Yolandi Visser (stylised as ¥o-Landi Vi$$er), is a South African rapper. She is the female vocalist in the rap-rave group Die Antwoord. Her partner in the group is Ninja, Watkin Tudor Jones. Visser appear ...

Die Antwoord Die Antwoord (, Afrikaans for "The Answer") is a South African alternative hip hop group formed in Cape Town in 2008. The group comprises rappers Watkin Tudor "Ninja" Jones and Anri "Yolandi Visser" du Toit, a male/female duo, and producers H ...

said, "It's associated with people who soup their cars up and rock gold and shit. Zef is, you're poor but you're fancy. You're poor but you're sexy, you've got style." The concept of "zef" originated in the 1960s and 1970s as a derogatory term to refer to working class whites, including residents of

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. It is a

shortening Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry and other food products. Although butter is solid at room temperature and is frequently used in making pastry, the term ''shortening'' seldom refers to bu ...

of the name of the

Ford Zephyr The Ford Zephyr is an executive car manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1950 until 1972. The Zephyr and its luxury variants, the Ford Zodiac and Ford Executive, were the largest passenger cars in the British Ford range from 1950 until their r ...

motorcar that was popular worldwide from the 1950s to the 1970s. In South Africa, these cars were often customized with enhanced engines, tires and wheels.Fourie, Magdel (16 February 2010
"The Dummies guide to Zef"
News24. Frikkie Lombard, editor of the '' Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal'', has explained zef as "something which is usually considered to be common, but nowadays has credibility." The term also appears in

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with un ...

's memoir ''Of Walking in Ice'' of 1978.

Zef music and culture

The music group

self-identifies as "zef" in style. In a 2010 interview,

Ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

of Die Antwoord responded to the controversy arising from his claim that zef represented South Africa.Die Antwoord Extended Uncut Interview
Youtube. Retrieved on 12 January 2012 Critics suggested it might rather just represent (Afrikaans) ''white'' South Africa. He commented that "racism is somewhat obsolete and a thing of the past for South Africans." In the same interview, Ninja describes that zef is a style of music and a style of subculture, comparing it to hip-hop in its role in society. In a featurette for Die Antwoord's role in the film '' Chappie'', Ninja states that zef means "that you literally don't care what anyone else thinks of you; like, you represent yourself in your music, in how you dress, in how you think, how you speak."CHAPPIE Movie – Die Antwoord Featurette
Youtube. Retrieved on 6 July 2015 In 2013, a "satirical blog" originally titled ''Zef Kinners'' briefly became a viral success in South Africa (and then faced legal claims) after it was started as a student school project, posting photos of people the blog considered to exemplify zef. The blog's creator commented, "

Jack Parow Zander Tyler (born February 22, 1982), better known under his stage name Jack Parow, is a South African rapper who has collaborated with other South African artists such as Die Heuwels Fantasties, Die Antwoord and Francois Van Coke. Career P ...

and Die Antwoord are not zef. That's the safe version of zef. Zef has a dirty face." Authors Ross Truscott and Maria Brock have perceived the "rise of zef culture" to be an expression of "Afrikaner self-parody" growing out of a sense of "national melancholia" in post-apartheid South Africa. They note similarities to earlier touchstones of South African culture such as the anti-apartheid Voëlvry Movement, the satirical magazine '' Bitterkomix'', and the alternative rock band

Fokofpolisiekar Fokofpolisiekar (, ''Fuckoffpolicecar'') is an Afrikaans alternative rock band from Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. Due to the obscenity in the name, they are also commonly known simply as Polisiekar or FPK. Band history The band wa ...

. Similarly, playwright/academic

Anton Krueger Anton Robert Krueger (born 28 September 1971, in Phalaborwa, South Africa) is a South African playwright, poet and academic. His plays have been staged in South Africa, as well as in England, Wales, Australia, the USA, Monaco, Venezuela, Argentin ...

has posited that the "embrace of the vulgarity embodied by Zef" is in part an "outlet" for a post-apartheid "sense of shame". Other performers who have been identified as exponents of zef include Voëlvry leader

Koos Kombuis Koos Kombuis (born ''André le Roux du Toit'', 5 November 1954) is a South African musician, singer, songwriter and writer who became famous as part of a group of anti-establishment maverick Afrikaans musicians, who, under the collective name ...

, (It quotes an Afrikaans source as describing Kombuis the "grandfather of zef".) comic performers Corné and Twakkie (

Louw Venter Louw Venter (born 16 August 1975), is a South African actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his directorial and writing roles in the popular films ''The Tree'', ''Konfetti'' and ''Swartwater''. Personal life He was born on 16 August 1975 in ...

and

Rob van Vuuren Robert Craig Jansen van Vuuren (born 26 March 1976) is a South African comedian, actor, presenter, theatre maker, and writer. Early life Van Vuuren was born in Port Elizabeth. He completed his matriculation at Maritzburg College before going on t ...

) of ''The Most Amazing Show'', and the comedy group Zef Sketse, known for their 2006 TV series ''Kompleks''.

Associated artists

References

{{reflist, 30em Afrikaans words and phrases Fashion aesthetics South African culture South African English White South African culture Working-class culture