A Man hides his face from the camera at a Kachasu-drinking spot in George Compound on Friday. – Picture by CHANDA MWENYA
Some women in Lusaka are basking in the business of selling a simple but highly potent brew called ‘wine’ while, in Mufulira’s Konkoyo, where almost every household runs a shebeen, girls as young as 15 spend their day drinking an illicit brew called ‘brown’ while they watch pornography with older men.
Business is booming for ‘wine’ makers in Lusaka. The ‘wine’ does not need key ingredients like grapes or other fruits or plants- all the brewers need is water, sugar, tea leaves and yeast.
“What these women do is that they just make black tea in huge quantities and while it is still hot, they mix it with yeast and it starts fermenting. Once the mixture is cold it is ready for consumption,” a ‘wine’ shebeen patron told the Sunday Mail when asked how it was made.
The brew has become popular among young people, even school boys and girls, because it is readily available and affordable – a 750 millilitre bottle costs a paltry K3,000 while a 2.5 litre container goes for K7,000 only.
A 21-year-old ‘wine’ consumer in Lilanda revealed to the Sunday Mail the brew is so strong that two cups are enough to ‘knock down’ an uninitiated imbiber while hardcore guzzlers go up to one or two bottles alone before the wine starts taking its toll.
At a wine spot popularly known as Pa Mayo (mother’s place) there is neither time regulation nor age restriction and the shebeen opens as early as 07:00 hours. This has attracted callboys from nearby Down Kawama bus station, criminal elements of all hues, township sex workers, and the so called yoballies (a street jargon for boys and young men who imitate western life styles and dress code).
Sadly, youths as young as 16 years count for a significant proportion of consumers because the wine is brewed and sold in the confines of fenced houses where a stranger cannot raise any suspicion from outside. About 25 young and slightly older men were found as early as 10:00 hours drinking the brew.
The
shebeen owners play it smart by not playing loud music, as is common
with other watering holes, but the dens are still noisy as patrons,
mostly youngsters, trade insults, jokes, and tales of their illicit
sexual affairs. In the notorious Desai Compound, cannabis is also not in
short supply as some drug pushers and abusers find the shebeens
conducive.Apart from mixing the ‘wine’ and drugs, most guzzlers in this old and shabby settlement are engrossed in illegal gambling, which most of the time results in bloody brawls.
Sometime back in this compound, a woman was reportedly gang-raped and later murdered at one of these shebeens. Only medical experts can tell the impact massive dose of the ‘wine’ is having on the bodies of the young imbibers.
In George, the Sunday Mail found a similar scenario though there the popular beer is the all-time deadly kachasu, which has unarguably become the face of compound.
A first time visitor to George should be forgiven for mistaking a kachasu shebeen, located about 200 metres from the junction leading to George Clinic, for a funeral house because of hordes of people that always cram the filthy smoke filled den as women continuously brew the stuff due to high demand. When demand reaches its peak, ‘thirsty’ patrons wait for it while the distillation process, through which it is brewed, is still going on.
Even
without going round the compound, one can tell the toll kachasu brewing
and drinking has on George from the number of swollen, bruised,
deformed and red eyed faces one meets on entering this high density and
sprawling ghetto.In lower density areas like Matero, Kabwata, and Libala townships, Government’s decision to ban opening of bars before 14:00 hours seems a blessing in disguise to shebeen owners as business is booming because many alcoholics cannot wait that ‘long’ to gulp their favourite beverages.
There is some decency here because customers are given the dignity of drinking inside the houses and in verandahs away from the public eye though the traders have no liquor trading licenses.
Meanwhile, a mere walk into Mufulira’s Kankoyo is enough for a visitor to know that the township is battling with a lot of problems. It is almost impossible to walk for an hour without hearing someone especially visitors coughing due to the sulphur dioxide circulating over the township which has over 20,000 people.
The many shebeens in Kankoyo which host school-going children have added to the township’s woes. The children don’t only drink alcohol but watch pornographic movies with adult patrons, the Sunday Mail found.
At one shebeen a drunk 15-year-old girl had this to say: “I started drinking beer when I was 12 years old. Since there is nothing to do, it is better to spend time in the bars, drinking beer and watching some movies and I don’t care who I am watching the movies with because I am old enough to make my own decisions in life.”
The girl said she lost interest in school when she was introduced to shebeens by her friends when she was in grade seven.
The interview was disrupted by some youths who threatened to deal with the Sunday Mail reporter and a photo-journalist for what they termed interference from outsiders.
The journalists, who went incognito into the township to gather information on the operations of the illegal bars, were warned against interfering in shebeen activities.
Attempts to buy an illicit brew commonly known as ‘brown’ in a bid to gather information on the management of the shebeens failed as the owners were reluctant to talk.
“We know all our customers and in any case you don’t drink beer, we know those who drink our beer, what do you want and where are you coming from, who has sent you, please just leave in peace,” a man who identified himself as Bwasi said.
Patriotic Front (PF) Mpelembe ward councillor Chilufya Chomba had earlier warned that it was dangerous to gather information as most people were violent.
“We cannot even escort you to these shebeens, they can burn us alive, our homes can be burnt, don’t go there, it is very dangerous, most of the people are violent; they can do anything just to protect their illegal business.
“What we need are armed police officers and the council to demolish these structures,” Mr Chomba said.
Four young women, however, accepted to be interviewed on condition that they are given money to buy ‘brown’.
One of them indentified as Chama said they patronize shebeens because of boredom.
“This issue is now a time bomb, it has already exploded, sometimes women get harassed, and people are beaten by unruly youths who are always under the influence of beer. The situation is getting out of hand, we are asking if the Kankoyo police post can be expanded into a police station and increase the number of officers who will be patrolling the township,” Mr Chomba said.
He added that it was unfortunate that almost every household in Kankoyo runs a shebeen.
“As civic leaders, we are extremely worried about the mushrooming of shebeens in Kankoyo. There is no age restriction, a lot of people including children patronise these illegal bars at will and at any time,” Mr Chomba said.
He stressed that some children frequent the beer dens instead of going to school. “It is a serious source of concern. You cannot have people drinking beer as early as 08: 00 hours and sometimes they watch pornographic movies with children as young as 13 or 14,” Mr Chomba said.
He also added that marriages are breaking up in the township because sexual relationships started at shebeens.
The problem of shebeens in Kankoyo was tabled and discussed during a recent full Mufulira Municipal Council meeting but the local authority does not have the capacity to deal with the illegality.
Mufulira district commissioner Beatrice Mithi says some women in the township are stranded after being abandoned by their husbands who have chosen to patronise the shebeens where they watch pornography with sex workers – some as young as 13.
Ms Mithi says her office is overwhelmed with reports of women being stranded with their children after being left by their wayward husbands.
Ms Mithi described the situation as worrying and called on the police to move in and arrest the shebeen owners.
And Copperbelt police commissioner Mary Tembo says police will work with the local authority to deal with shebeen queens and kings.
“It is sad that these people, who are running the illegal bars, are even showing pornographic movies to young patrons who are supposed to be their children. They are allowing school going children to drink beer in the illegal bars instead of rebuking them so that they can go to school.
“Our friendly advice is that they should find something better to do with their lives instead of engaging in illegal activities because we will not rest until they are arrested,” she said.
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