It’s not all bad.
On Mother’s Day I got a call from my friend Fose Segodi. For various reasons, neither of us could be with our mothers. So he suggested lunch. It was already late — 3.30pm. He was desperate for some tripe, and I was craving samp and oxtail stew. He suggested a restaurant on Vilakazi Street in Orlando West, Soweto. That’s where the Mandelas had their home for ages. The other nice Nobel laureate, the great Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was also a resident.
So we made our way through the Soweto traffic to Orlando West. The sky was a beautiful, crisp blue, and women in church gear clutched shawls over their shoulders as they walked from mass.
Vilakazi Street can be a bit of a tourist trap. On weekdays the tourist buses and the bespoke tours charge in and, for locals, it can feel a bit fake. That’s OK, though. If it’s not a bastardisation of the history, it’s a great place to visit for all the tourists we desperately need.
It was not touristy on Mother’s Day. It was packed, yes, but it was full of locals. Vilakazi Street’s restaurants were overflowing with families out for Mother’s Day visits. Men were decked out in suits and ties, women in fabulous, festive outfits. Sakhumzi, one of the more famous restaurants on the strip, was heaving.
Opposite Sakhumzi, Vuyos, with its slightly off-putting Bangkok-esque advertising banners, was chock-a-block. Groups of young men and women with mothers looking pleased as punch, tucking into all kinds of delicious-looking dishes, were out on the balcony and inside. Phone cameras clicked. Smiles abounded. Card machines whirred. Nexdor, Makhelwane, KEK — waiters at all these establishments were rushed off their feet taking and delivering orders.
Beautiful.
We were headed up the road to an eatery where we’d had some fine food in the past. It’s about 500m up the hill from the main tourist drag. It was closed. No matter. We had tried to eat at another restaurant, 1947, three years ago and had found it full. We walked across the road to try again.
There was a problem. Nine women queuing at the door. It was 4.30pm, way past lunch, way before dinner — and there was a queue? The jolly doorman gave us a huge smile and looked at us pityingly. Did we make a reservation? We hadn’t. “Some people booked months ago,” he said. The head waiter came to the door, looked at us pityingly and went back inside, shaking her head.
We marvelled at how well this restaurant and others on the street were doing on Mother’s Day and, I am told, most days, full stop
My friend and I were happy to wait. As the smell of fine food wafted out, we marvelled at how well this restaurant and others on the street were doing on Mother’s Day and, I am told, most days, full stop. When finance minister Enoch Godongwana presents yet another budget on May 21 these are the businesses — and their customers — he should reflect about.
The founders of these restaurants and other businesses on Vilakazi Street, as well as in tourist hubs and other busy nodes from Mpumalanga to the Western Cape, are all dreamers who took a chance. They started these businesses believing that the government would make the operating environment easier, that it would market the country to attract tourists and that it would grow the economy to build a bigger base of people with disposable income. They are making it work despite all the negativity on the political front.
This is the economy.
The head waiter found us two seats at the bar upstairs. The ground floor was full of families, dressed to the nines, joyous looks on their faces, tucking into wonderful-looking dishes from the restaurant’s short but diverse menu. A younger crowd, including many mothers, was upstairs. The place is very nicely decorated, and the toilets are so clean I nearly started applauding. Service was swift and excellent. I was tempted to try the pastas or the springbok carpaccio, but I stayed true: oxtail stew with a side of samp. It was so good.
For a few hours on Mother’s Day, watching these bustling businesses provide great joy to happy customers, I was reminded that it’s not all bad. We can still build a prosperous South Africa.
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