Written by Renate Meyer 

“Black people weren’t allowed to have shebeens.  They were raided, arrested and paid fines. They couldn’t even enter bottlestores or stand near a bottlestore. They weren’t allowed to deal in liquor or buy liquor.  It is only in the 1960’s that black people were allowed to enter bottlestores.” Ms PM 

It is easy to forget that 40 years ago, it was illegal for black South Africans to drink and buy alcohol. At the initial launch of the audio visual exhibition “Umqomboti, Utywala and Lucky Stars - peoples stories of liquor in Langa between 1930 and 1980” at Guga s’thebe, Violet Tswili, an ex-shebeen queen addressed the captivated audience of over 150 residents, relatives, students and guests. She spoke of how she used to hide 12 half jacks of brandy under her skirt, in a customized petticoat which she had sewn, so that police wouldn’t suspect she was carrying alcohol into the township.  While her story had us in stitches about how she dodged the police, the reality was quite different for her. Imagine having to go to such lengths to smuggle alcohol.

“ Women used to buy liquor in town and carry it on their backs, as if carrying babies...  A policeman once communicated with a lady carrying what looked like a baby and he became curious wanting to see the baby… he was astonished to find bottles of brandy and no baby.  Ever since then police knew the trick.” TN

The exhibition consists of images and oral histories that explore these realities and stories.   As part of the Centre for Popular Memory’s (CPM), UCT post-graduate intern programme it uses oral history to record peoples memories of life in Langa. The stories form a body of over 80 oral history interviews conducted by three interns based at the Centre.   

The exhibition looks at how people created social and recreational spaces within a system that tried to undermine them, and how these spaces were politicized. Interviewees spoke of playing cards, listening to music and discussing politics. The difference was that it was illegal and police could come at any time to arrest owners or customers and destroy stock and property.  

“There used to be quite flourishing shebeens because … white man’s liquor… you know Africans were not allowed to drink.  So whenever you’re going to a shebeen, you find there will be a kettle…they pour say about five bottles of brandy and there are cups you know.  Whenever the policeman comes in, he will think “These people are having tea” and yet it’s brandy in the kettle!” Mr M

These aren’t stories you’ll find in textbooks or classrooms.  They are stories told by people who experienced those times.  Many shebeen owners were endlessly harassed by police, fined and imprisoned. Yet shebeens continued to flourish. Some interviewees recounted incidents of how shebeen queens used to pour alcohol into bicycle tubes that they put around their waists or how bottles would be smuggled into Langa in coffins and suitcases. 

People spoke of how umqomboti (traditional beer) was controlled.  Although it was used in ceremonies and part of mens’ staple diet, a permit was needed to make it and anyone found drinking it or brewing it in large quantities was fined and the umqomboti destroyed.  

With the influx of migrant labour and people coming to the urban areas to look for work, there were always customers. Owners found other ways to smuggle alcohol into the township and different places to hide it and so the trade continued.  Often women would run the shebeen and serve food too, providing a relatively stable income and this meant children could attend school and rent could be paid. 

Looking at the exhibition and reading residents’ stories provides insight into peoples histories. Stories and insights that exist in our parents, friends and grandparents memories and that if we don’t listen too and build on, will be buried with them.

The Exhibition opened at Guga s’tebe, Langa in 2002 and has traveled to the Nelson Mandela Gateway, Worcester open-air museum and is currently at the Paarl Museum.  

The Centre for Popular Memory is based in the Historical Studies Department at UCT and concentrates on the training, research, archiving and dissemination of people’s stories. All projects concentrate on the oral histories of people in the Western Cape. The CPM archive has over 1200 interviews conducted with people in 5 languages over the past 15 years. For more information see www.popularmemory.org or phone (021) 650 4758.