The Gauteng Liquor Board is investigating whether complaints they received about a Soweto tavern are legitimate or a “feud between the rich and educated on the one side and the poor and uneducated on the other”.
Professional accountant Thokozile Msimanga has lived her entire life in the same residential house in Soweto's Doornkop area.
“It is my parents' house and I grew up here. The last few years have been hell for us with the neighbours not adhering to the law with their tavern,” Msimanga told TimesLIVE Premium.
She has reported the operations of the tavern — named Gambu's Place — to the Liquor Board “on several occasions.”
“We report and then they do an inspection or a drive-by and nothing ever comes from that. And we are not just nosy neighbours complaining about nothing. We literally have strangers urinating against our exterior walls and people blocking our driveway with their cars. I don't think the tavern even has restrooms,” Msimanga said.
“Then I am not even talking about the loud music played at all hours or the loitering of their customers.”
Msimanga says her family is living in fear.
“We have young and elderly people under the same roof and we can never complain or even attempt to confront them about the issues because there have already been incidents of assault and intimidation. It reached the point where we applied for and received a protection order earlier this year,” Msimanga said.
On Tuesday, TimesLIVE Premium visited Gambu's Place and found it locked in darkness and temporarily closed to the public.
Tavern operator Matsie Ngamlane was frustrated with the state of affairs.
“We have been without power in our neighbourhood for the last two days. We have now had to close down because we don't have a generator, so we can't cool the beers,” Ngamlane said.
She says she operates the tavern, but the business is registered under her bus driver husband's name.
“My husband Siyabonga is a Putco driver. We can't afford to both put our eggs in the same basket.”
She angrily denied claims by their neighbour.
“This is not about the tavern. This is a feud between two families — one is rich and educated and the other poor and uneducated,” Ngamlane said.
According Ngamlane, the feud started two decades ago.
“The two families dislike each other. If we had another type of business on this address they still would have complained. This thing started 20 years ago but escalated in 2020 when we extended the garage so it became a service bar.”
Gambu's Place had humble beginnings.
“We started out with limited stock, having like five cases of beer and when it was finished we were finished for the day.
“In 2020 after we changed the garage into the bar, liquor suppliers gave us branded fridges and our business grew. But because of the building work and branding our business was suddenly more visible. Then the problems with the neighbours went into a new gear.”
She says she is fully aware of the regulations surrounding the hospitality trade.
“I did training with the National Tourism and Hospitality Association [NTHA]. We also changed our operating hours after Covid-19. Under our licence we can trade from 10am to 2am, but NTHA asked us to change the hours and we agreed. Now on weekdays we operate from 10am to 10pm and on weekends we do 10am to midnight,” Ngamlane said.
She denied Msimanga's claims about public urination by Gambu customers.
“We have toilets and our customers make use of them. The ones who use the wall are the exception.”
She believes the feud is a spat between two economic classes.
“We are trying to fight our way out of poverty and our neighbours are fighting to hold us back and keep us poor.”
Cleo Bodibe-Lushaba, the Gauteng Liquor Board's director of client relations management, told TimesLIVE Premium they have looked into the operations at Gambu's Place in the past.
“Our inspector has investigated the outlet. He will revisit the outlet again next week,” Bodibe-Lushaba said.
For now, she has no answers for the feuding parties.
“Our inspector is currently not able to confirm nor deny the allegations,” Bodibe-Lushaba said.
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