![]() So we decided long before the tournament that we would not alienate them by raising prices.” ![]() Mawonga explains, “We realized that after the international soccer fans had gone, we would be left with our loyal local customers. The tavern charges little more than one US dollar for almost a liter of beer, and about three dollars for a huge plate of barbecued meat. So we must look after that community,” says Noxolo. “The community where we (are based), it’s not a rich community. We are real,” Noxolo emphasizes.Īnd that philosophy means Jeya’s offers real prices too, that can be afforded by poor local people. “Our place is still in a township, New Brighton, where many people have no water and electricity. During the apartheid years, the area was wracked with political violence The tavern's situated on Sheya Kulati circle in New Brighton township in Port Elizabeth. Yet while other shebeens across the country with similar windfalls are gentrifying and “moving away from their township roots,” as Noxolo puts it, she and her husband will do “no such thing.”ĭespite the fact that international visitors are now packing their tavern night after night, spending dollars, pounds, marks and yen as if there’s no tomorrow, the Sumes refuse to increase their prices. ![]() It’s now making more money than the Sumes ever dreamed possible. Ever since the country hosted the recent soccer World Cup, Jeya’s has been thronged with tourists from all over the world. ![]() She and her husband, Mawonga – popularly known as ‘Jeya,’ a nickname from when he played for South Africa’s national football team in the 1980s - own the venue in Port Elizabeth, on South Africa’s south coast. We are a shebeen,” says Noxolo Sume, using a South African word meaning “informal drinking den.” ![]() When people come here, they want to feel a township vibe, not a luxury vibe. “We are part of the township, and proud of it. But she's determined not to gentrify her establishment. Noxolo Sume's traditional township tavern made a lot of money during the recent World Cup. ![]()
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