Shcbccns VusiMana

efore South Africa's turbulent, polit­ ical1980s, shebeens were the main­ Bstay of Black social life - very much as pubs are social ce~ters in the United Kingdom - and legion in almost every African township. However, due to an exodus of Blacks with disposable income to previously White suburbs, shebeens in South Africa's townships are presently under financial threat. Shebeen owners in the townships must attract their clientele from among a market that either has no money to spend on liquor or prefers to spend money at upscale venues in town. The aspiring masses, left behind by the new Black elite, also want to escape the township squalor and tiny, four-room townhouse or mansion behind vast Usually set up in a small township house, a "matchbox" houses and have a taste of white walls; and trendy White South shebeen was literally a home away from home. the finer things in life. And if those finer Africans who are keen to see the other Photo courtesy DACST things are associated with town, that's (Black) side of South African life. where they'll spend their money. What's his secret? <taverns they are opening tled to buy - only from a White man, of taverns. Activist youths - who saw throughout the country are modeled on course - six bottles of beer and one drinking and revelry as an obstacle to these traditional drinking spots. One can bottle of more refined firewater (brandy the discipline required by the liberation even find a venue called the Travellers or whisky) per month. struggle - had meanwhile been trying Shebeen & Bar at the Johannesburg However, ''township mamas;' unde­ to close shebeens down, and sadly they International Airport. terred by liquor control laws, simply had some successes. But hundreds - For a taste of the glory and magic of brewed and sold their own concoctions, licensed and unlicensed - continued to the original she been, however, one must turning their homes into social rendez­ operate, and in the 1990s, the institution go back to the township. Here shebeens vous. In a country that restricted the scored a comeback. may no longer be doing the roaring entry of Black men and women into Although one can find hard -core she­ trade they used to, and they may con tin­ most businesses, shebeens became a beens in almost every African township, ue to undergo changes in form and style. good way to make a living - as long as the ones with class and sophistication But they will undoubtedly be passed on you didn't mind turning your living - at the risk of sounding condescend­ as custom and tradition from one gener­ room into a pub and your kitchen into a ing - are found in townships in the ation of the Black community to the home-brew storeroom. environs of big cities like Johannesburg, next. It was worth the sacrifice. Generations Durban, and Cape Town. Take, for exam­ of Black South African professionals, ple, Steers in Section N of Umlazi, near Vusi Mona is assistant editor of City Press, a including some current politicians, were Durban. Steers boasts a TV set with M­ mass-market national Sunday newspaper. educated on the proceeds of their moth­ Net (the pay-television channel), a big ers' shebeens. Often unskilled and the screen for sports viewing, excellent toilet 68 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL 1999