Recently residents of Tsholofelo complained that the club makes noise at night and attracts criminals. However, this claim was dismissed by the owner of the nightclub, Mohammed Sobhan, who said there were people who wanted his business to be closed.
He said there are people who were jealous of him because his business was doing well as he is a hard worker.
Sobban said the building was fitted with a sound proof system after the ward development committee started complaining about the noise.
Sobban said he had complied with all the requirements and does not know why his licence was not been renewed. He said this would lead to loss of business for him. “Sadly my employees will also lose their jobs,” he said.
But the secretary of the Ward committee, Kaizer Leepile said there has been peace in the area since the club’s licence was withdrawn last month. “There is no noise at night and the surroundings are clean. Currently everyone is having a peaceful sleep,” he said.
Leepile said the club used to operate from 6pm to 6am the following day. He said they wrote several letters to complain about its operations.
Leepile said there was a lot of juvenile delinquency when the club was in operation. He said parents were forced to move their children to stay in other residential areas since they could not sleep at night and some even relocated because of the noise.
He pointed out that the club was located between a school and two churches and indicated that at times, when children were going to school they would encounter some of the club’s patrons exposing themselves indecently.
He said there were also complaints that the club was serving liquor to underage children. “He was destroying the future of our children. What was he teaching them,” he asked. “What would become the future of our children if we didn’t speak out.
Leepile expressed concern that the owner of the club was concerned about making money and not about the welfare of the children.
He said the club also disrupted nearby churches, adding that members of the congregations have been celebrating since the club was closed. The chairperson of the ward committee, Sollie Sethole said the church members came to thank them for agitating for the closure of the club. He added that if the council had not withdrawn the licence, they had intended to go and battle it out in court.
Sethole said people are no longer urinating all over the street since the nightclub was closed.
He said it was only the nightclub patrons who were causing trouble in the area.
Sethole said the Tsholofelo area is a small community where you cannot have a bar, nightclub or a liquor restaurant. “One bar is enough for this area.”
Sethole pointed out that they do not have a problem with the bar, which is operating in the area because it closes on time.
Meanwhile the members of the ward committee said they want the council to also withdraw a licence for a liquor restaurant which Mohammed was operating at the same premises as the nightclub.
They feel that the restaurant does not operate in accordance with the stipulated hours. They expressed fears that the restaurant would end up causing trouble for them just like the nightclub. “Both the club and the restaurant should be closed for good,” Leepile appealed.
The Tsholofelo Ward Development Committee had waged a campaign that led to the closure of the club. They had appealed to other community leaders and the authorities. After the licence of the club was withdrawn, the council wrote a letter to the committee to inform them about the decision. Leepile said even though this was a belated move it was worth celebrating.
Broadhurst Police Station commander, Counsel Moyo said there is confusion regarding the status of the club.
He said the council once wrote to the police informing them that the club’s licence had not been renewed, but when they raided the club for operating illegally, they were issued with another licence by the owners.
Moyo said the council informed them that the licence is for the restaurant, not the nightclub. He said they are still investigating the matter but in the meantime, they will regard it that the nightclub has no licence.
Moyo said the rate of crime has decreased since the nightclub was closed. He said when it was still operating they used to receive a lot of reports from people who had gone to the club.
