Serve but don't drink here
As I work more and more to ignore racialism and racism, the more I am affronted by it. I have been reminded quite repeatedly that there are pubs where Black people just aren't welcome. The examples are many and I keep asking my self "what kind of 'transformed South Africa do we live in?"
The most recent example was at one of my favourite old haunts, Birds of a Feather in Durban. After having spent my hard-earned money in the establishment, I went to relieve my self of the things I had spent said money on. Zipping up, wiping my hands, I step out to find the very Afrikaans supervisor and his worriedly in-bred looking baton-wielding lackey behind him. Afrikaans supervisor asks me what I was doing in there. The nerve! I reply it is none of his business what I do in the bathroom. He put a finger to my chest. I couldn't believe it. He then told me it is his business as the supervisor. I laughed and walked away. Offended, angry, but I laughed and walked away.
In Hilton, KZN, there is a place known as the Old Mill Brewery. It has two main roads that cross it, and sits at the corner. It has reasonable prices and is very accessible. Funny thing is, so many Black people pass by, but not 1 ever walks in to get a drink. All the staff are Black, yet all the patrons are English and Dutch. Funny that. It is 2017, isn't it? But you can feel it when you walk in. I stestepped in with my finest English, which is not Standard Grade, greeted by a Zulu girl. She directed me to the bar. I drank alone save for the 2 new owners of the place.
They treated me with indifference. On the second and third visit, it was crowded. Not 1 African was drinking there. I ordered a now hiked-up Indian Pale Ale, and looked for a seat. It was so weird having people trying not to look atme. The parking lot was packed, and I found a seat in the sun. I looked over the oak bars and saw the street. Men were sweating, but standing there waiting for a taxi. They knew they couldn't drink there. It's the way they ignore you, treat you like you don't have a right to a fine, safe venue and 6 craft beers. They and their children fill up the venue, while my people wait for taxis to Howick, to drink in a filthy venue with Lion Lager and other mass-produced swill. The even scarier fact is that it is the same for every other venue in Hilton. There is no Black at your table or bar.
It is a racial thing.This is the most disturbing fact. Places are still racially divided. Blacks can serve but can't be at our barstool. I was once asked to leave the moment I reached the bar at The Blue Turtle in Umbilo. Or what about that time in Parklands, Cape Town when the same thing happened again? There are exceptions to this behaviour, and intergrated places of drinking do exist, but it is also a frightening reality that Black men get beaten up for being in the 'wrong part of town.' This happens far too regularly in Utrecht and surrounding areas of KwaZulu.
This is an existent thing that needs debate. We all deserve to be able to drink and dine at fine venues. If I can afford a pale ale, then I will walk in and order one. Yet as soon as I walk in, I hear talk of how this wouldn't have happened under old management. A clearly Welsh couple of 60+ years talks loudly about the decline pf South Africa. "Britain doesn't have faith in South Africa, anymore." No one says hi. Somewhere in Grahamstown an Afrikaans drinking duo talks about how they used to get away with shooting kaffirs. These things I see my self. I was there, hearing and watching, feeling. And I have to ask always...
Whose South Africa is this?
The most recent example was at one of my favourite old haunts, Birds of a Feather in Durban. After having spent my hard-earned money in the establishment, I went to relieve my self of the things I had spent said money on. Zipping up, wiping my hands, I step out to find the very Afrikaans supervisor and his worriedly in-bred looking baton-wielding lackey behind him. Afrikaans supervisor asks me what I was doing in there. The nerve! I reply it is none of his business what I do in the bathroom. He put a finger to my chest. I couldn't believe it. He then told me it is his business as the supervisor. I laughed and walked away. Offended, angry, but I laughed and walked away.
In Hilton, KZN, there is a place known as the Old Mill Brewery. It has two main roads that cross it, and sits at the corner. It has reasonable prices and is very accessible. Funny thing is, so many Black people pass by, but not 1 ever walks in to get a drink. All the staff are Black, yet all the patrons are English and Dutch. Funny that. It is 2017, isn't it? But you can feel it when you walk in. I stestepped in with my finest English, which is not Standard Grade, greeted by a Zulu girl. She directed me to the bar. I drank alone save for the 2 new owners of the place.
They treated me with indifference. On the second and third visit, it was crowded. Not 1 African was drinking there. I ordered a now hiked-up Indian Pale Ale, and looked for a seat. It was so weird having people trying not to look atme. The parking lot was packed, and I found a seat in the sun. I looked over the oak bars and saw the street. Men were sweating, but standing there waiting for a taxi. They knew they couldn't drink there. It's the way they ignore you, treat you like you don't have a right to a fine, safe venue and 6 craft beers. They and their children fill up the venue, while my people wait for taxis to Howick, to drink in a filthy venue with Lion Lager and other mass-produced swill. The even scarier fact is that it is the same for every other venue in Hilton. There is no Black at your table or bar.
It is a racial thing.This is the most disturbing fact. Places are still racially divided. Blacks can serve but can't be at our barstool. I was once asked to leave the moment I reached the bar at The Blue Turtle in Umbilo. Or what about that time in Parklands, Cape Town when the same thing happened again? There are exceptions to this behaviour, and intergrated places of drinking do exist, but it is also a frightening reality that Black men get beaten up for being in the 'wrong part of town.' This happens far too regularly in Utrecht and surrounding areas of KwaZulu.
This is an existent thing that needs debate. We all deserve to be able to drink and dine at fine venues. If I can afford a pale ale, then I will walk in and order one. Yet as soon as I walk in, I hear talk of how this wouldn't have happened under old management. A clearly Welsh couple of 60+ years talks loudly about the decline pf South Africa. "Britain doesn't have faith in South Africa, anymore." No one says hi. Somewhere in Grahamstown an Afrikaans drinking duo talks about how they used to get away with shooting kaffirs. These things I see my self. I was there, hearing and watching, feeling. And I have to ask always...
Whose South Africa is this?
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