AllAfrica.com
- Cape Town
- Monday, 23 April 2007
South Africa: Race Row Brews
After Cops 'Raid Black Nightclub
PATRONS of popular
Stellenbosch club Lush Cosmo Lounge said police raided the club
on Friday without a warrant and assaulted staff.
"They had no warrant
to search, they chased bouncers, they made false accusations,
they hit and arrested one of the bouncers.
"I felt really
worried being in the club," said Bhavesh Bansda, 19, who goes to
the nightspot two or three times a week.
Several people rang
Weekend Argus to express their shock and outrage at the
incident.
They claimed
undercover police, searching for drugs, arrived about midnight.
Brent Sauls, 21, a
bouncer at the club, laid charges of assault at the Stellenbosch
police station last night.
"They insulted the
club owners, the club and the patrons," said Zenzaba Baza, 20, a
BCom student at Stellenbosch University and a member of the
Black Students' Association.
"They were
force-searching people. This is a race issue," he said.
"This is the first
club that has opened for black students on campus. It is also
the only club owned by people of colour."
Baza claimed black
students were not welcome at many Stellenbosch clubs, and were
told they could not come in because their names did not appear
on guest lists.
"There are also a
lot of clubs that play Afrikaans music and not everybody likes
that. We managed to get a weekly Black Night at Lush where we
play African music."
Bansda said that
last weekend plainclothes police came into the club and turned
the music off.
Nigel Jacobs, 25,
who was the DJ at the time, said he was approached by two
policemen who "aggressively" told him to turn the music off
about 11.30pm.
"One told me, 'Mark
my words, by next week this club will be closed'".
"This is one of the
nicest places in Stellenbosch.
"There is tight
security and celebrities come here. Some people even come
through from the southern suburbs," said Jacobs.
The club, which
draws a mixed and international crowd, including some of the
Stormers players, was opened only three months ago.
The owner of the
club, known only as Dylan, declined to comment.
Police told
reporters to call back on Monday.
