Back in the 1980s the longest bar in Africa was a crowded place. Stockbrokers, suits from the mining houses and sales reps jostled for standing room at the main bar in the Rand Club, Johannesburg, and it was Aaron Biyela's job to keep lunch-time patrons supplied with cold beer and gin and tonics.That was then.Now, Africa's longest bar is frequented only by ghosts, and Biyela is worried about the future.Yesterday, the Rand Club closed its doors."The club is going into hibernation," is how a receptionist explained it.This is not the end of 128 years of history. Rather, it is the Rand Club closing temporarily as the management looks for an outside partner to take over its food and beverage operation, says chairman David Williams."We are not sure how long this will take, but we believe we will be closed for between three and nine months," Williams said.During this period club members will be allowed to use the facilities at either the Inanda Club or the Johannesburg Country Club."It is a sad day, especially when you consider the club was founded a year after Johannesburg," said former general manager of the club Robbie Richardson.Since that time the club has stood at 33 Loveday Street. The story goes that its location was picked by Cecil John Rhodes himself."This corner will do for a club," the mining magnate is supposed to have said to Joburg's first district surgeon, Dr Hans Sauer.At that time it was a prime location. The mining houses were a quick walk away, the stock exchange just a few blocks away.Three buildings have stood on the site. The present building was opened in 1904 and for 111 years has survived mining strikes, depressions and the effects of two world wars.During the 1922 miners' strike the club had to be barricaded.Parts of Johannesburg were bombed then, but the grand building remained untouched.But by the 1990s Rhodes's choice of location had become a curse. As companies moved out of the Johannesburg CBD, membership numbers dropped."If this club was in Sandton, you wouldn't get through the door," said Richardson, adding that people don't have time any more to battle traffic to get into the CBD of Johannesburg to enjoy lunch."In the right place, these clubs still thrive; look at New York and London," Richardson said.Over time, the club's regulations have been relaxed. Members must still be nominated and submit a CV, but they no longer have to wear ties and jackets. Denim jeans are still a no-no.Biyela has watched the numbers dwindle."After 1994, numbers started falling, day by day," he said.Even one of the best draught beers in town wasn't enough to keep them at the club.Williams says there have been drives to attract new members.Biyela hopes to find work at one of Joburg's other clubs while he waits for the longest bar in Africa to reopen...