Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
IN Bulawayo, shebeens are the city’s best kept secret.
Like all good secrets, shebeens are not to be revealed while they exist or their owners are still alive. With that being the case, we are only meant to admit the existence of shebeens, let alone disclose their locations, when they finally close their doors. This is the same principle some men apply to their “extended families”, the children born out of wedlock who are unceremoniously unveiled by their graveside when they have passed away.
After all, unlike in South Africa where they have been formalised and are a tourist attraction, shebeens in Zimbabwe are, after all, still very much illegal and the subject of police raids.
So when this reporter found out that koSaFana, the “Gents Bar” in Mzilikazi’s K Square had been closed, it seemed like an ideal opportunity to write about a joint that had carved an iconic reputation for itself in a part of the city that is already littered with cultural landmarks.
Over the last few years, KoSaFana had become a joint of considerable repute, an important landmark in the geography of Mzilikazi and Barbourfields suburbs. In fact, to those that used to pass by religiously before or after Highlanders football matches, koSaFana was now a rite of passage.
For the seasoned imbiber, a cold pint or quart from koSaFana was now equivalent to buying a pie from Oriental or fresh chips from Sunflower.
In fact, some just passed by the joint to taste for themselves if the beer was as cold as imbibers claimed it was. Never has the temperate of alcoholic beverage been so mythical and revered.
Located a short walking distance from the Mecca of football in the city, Barbourfields Stadium, KoSaFana was as modest a shebeen as any in the city. On match days, when seats inside and outside the house ran out, one had to find a stray brick or anything resembling a chair so that they could perch and enjoy their sparkling beverage.
One would endure this discomfort because koSaFana had mastered the first and most important ingredient in the making of a good shebeen; extremely cold beers.
Of course, there were other attractions too. On good days, one would find themselves negotiating for space with a Johannes Ngodzo, a Benjani Mwariwari or Babongile Sikhonjwa on the narrow corridors of SaFana’s modest home. The city’s socialites, most of them raised far from the hustle and bustle of Makokoba or Mzilikazi, usually found themselves buzzing on the corridors of koSaFana.
Most non-regulars, who passed by the joint due to an undeniable desire for one cold beer or mere curiosity, would probably not know SaFana if they met him on the streets of Bulawayo. Like all good shebeen kings, SaFana’s identity was mysterious and fluid, perhaps a necessity for a man that ran an enterprise that did not exactly follow the letter of the law.
Fewer still would know the Fana that gave him his famous name. So when was koSaFana founded and why did it become a landmark in that famous corner of the City of Kings? The unique joint did not just sprout out of the stone and dust of Mzilikazi.
According to one long time imbiber, the joint at K Square was just the reincarnation of yet another that had been located in another part of the famous suburb. That first joint had been a usual shebeen, with the usual thrills and spills which attracted the attention of the police and the resultant cat and mouse games between the law enforcement agents and the imbibers.
Soon, however, SaFana decided to eliminate loud music from his joint, itself a revolutionary concept in the shebeen business. Instead of the Soul Brothers blaring from a speaker, the sound of conversation as imbibers watched football on television would be filtering out from SaFana’s living room.
“He opened the first joint in 2009,” one long time reveler told Sunday Life. “Initially he used to sell “hot stuff” and trotters at his family home around T section in Mzilikazi. Some of us then convinced him to find a full house and open a shebeen for guys to watch the English Premier League. At the time there were no places to watch midweek EPL matches ekasi.
He literary took down the council pub at BF Stadium after everyone moved to his joint because it offered EPL. Patrons then advised him to avoid music and allowing women to frequent his spot alone. They argued this would lead to outbreaks of violence. So it literary became men’s sports bar. This was back when he was based at L Square. He then moved to K Square which is the place most people know now.
Thus, while there were similar shebeens in the township, KoSaFana had its own unique selling point, the seasoned imbiber revealed.
“The other guys play a lot of music in their places. You have Tswai at E, Kelvin at G, Fatso at Q… SaFana was different from all of them because he had a unique selling point,” he said.
With the Zimbabwean top flight football league taking a hiatus, perhaps the closure of KoSaFana would have been missed by many.
The house is still there of course, as one cannot fold it and pack it away now that the shebeen that it houses no longer exists. However, without SaFana’s famously cold beverages and the company he kept, it is merely that, another house. When the first ball is kicked in anger at BF this season, perhaps many will wonder where they will toast to a victory or console themselves with a cold one after a gruelling match at Emagumeni. They certainly cannot do it KoSaFana.
Of course, there were other attractions too. On good days, one would find themselves negotiating for space with a Johannes Ngodzo, a Benjani Mwariwari or Babongile Sikhonjwa on the narrow corridors of SaFana’s modest home.
The city’s socialites, most of them raised far from the hustle and bustle of Makokoba or Mzilikazi, usually found themselves buzzing on the corridors of koSaFana.
Most non-regulars, who passed by the joint due to an undeniable desire for one cold beer or mere curiosity, would probably not know SaFana if they met him on the streets of Bulawayo.
Like all good shebeen kings, SaFana’s identity was mysterious and fluid, perhaps a necessity for a man that ran an enterprise that did not exactly follow the letter of the law.
Fewer still would know the Fana that gave him his famous name. So when was koSaFana founded and why did it become a landmark in that famous corner of the City of Kings? The unique joint did not just sprout out of the stone and dust of Mzilikazi.
According to one long time imbiber, the joint at K Square was just the reincarnation of yet another that had been located in another part of the famous suburb.
That first joint had been a usual shebeen, with the usual thrills and spills which attracted the attention of the police and the resultant cat and mouse games between the law enforcement agents and the imbibers.
Soon, however, SaFana decided to eliminate loud music from his joint, itself a revolutionary concept in the shebeen business.
Instead of the Soul Brothers blaring from a speaker, the sound of conversation as imbibers watched football on television would be filtering out from SaFana’s living room.
“He opened the first joint in 2009,” one long time reveller told Sunday Life.
“Initially he used to sell “hot stuff” and trotters at his family home around T- section in Mzilikazi. Some of us then convinced him to find a full house and open a shebeen for guys to watch the English Premier League. At the time there were no places to watch midweek EPL matches ekasi.
He literary took down the council pub at BF Stadium after everyone moved to his joint because it offered EPL. Patrons then advised him to avoid music and allowing women to frequent his spot alone.
They argued this would lead to outbreaks of violence. So it literary became men’s sports bar. This was back when he was based at L Square.
He then moved to K Square which is the place most people know now.
Thus, while there were similar shebeens in the township, KoSaFana had its own unique selling point, the seasoned imbiber revealed.
“The other guys play a lot of music in their places. You have Tswai at E, Kelvin at G, Fatso at Q… SaFana was different from all of them because he had a unique selling point,” he said.
With the Zimbabwean top-flight football league taking a hiatus, perhaps the closure of KoSaFana would have been missed by many.
The house is still there of course, as one cannot fold it and pack it away now that the shebeen that it houses no longer exists. However, without SaFana’s famously cold beverages and the company he kept, it is merely that, another house.
When the first ball is kicked in anger at BF this season, perhaps many will wonder where they will toast to a victory or console themselves with a cold one after a gruelling match at Emagumeni. They certainly cannot do it KoSaFana.