Resolve your differences, Pub Lagondola patrons plead

By Bongani Ndlovu

Patrons of popular Pub Lagondola in Bulawayo have expressed their dismay following the closure of the joint and called on the warring parties to stop bickering and find a lasting solution that will lead to its re-opening.

Last Monday, the Deputy Sheriff closed Pub Lagondola because of rent arrears.

A wrangle between lease holder Mgcini Nkolomi and his business partner Jabulani Nyoni ensued and there were accusations and counter accusations by both parties of misappropriation of funds, which, according to them, led to the $33 000 rent arrears.

Loyal Pub Lagondola patrons such as Umahlekisa Comedy Club director, Ntando Van Moyo, said the closure of the spot had cost them a place where they felt at home.

“This closure has affected us because we now have to find new spots with new cultures and beer prices. The ambience isn’t the same as what we were accustomed to when we were drinking and having fun at Pub Lagondola,” said Van Moyo.

Pub Lagondola was a hit among many fun loving locals as the joint had two sections for two different markets.

The first section was mostly for those who prefer the shebeen/stokvel atmosphere while the second was a Cigar Lounge for the young and contemporary revellers.

This really made the place special as it gave one a shebeen/stokvel feel right in the middle of the city and when one got tired of that atmosphere, they could just shift to the Cigar Lounge instead of going club hopping.

Another patron Nozipho Mpofu said he saw the closure coming because the two partners had been at loggerheads for some time.

“As a loyal patron of Lagondola, I saw this coming. The fights between Nkolomi and Jabu were evident. I remember one Friday afternoon last year when I was having a few beers, the place was raided by the Sheriff of the High Court (when Nkolomi tried to evict Nyoni from the premises). It didn’t end there. They returned some two to three months later,” said Mpofu.

He said all he wants is for the two to swallow their pride and get the bar running again.

“I want JB (Nyoni) and Nkolomi to resolve their differences because as we speak, the two have successfully killed a legendary bar.”

Another regular, Thando Gwinji, said Pub Lagondola had become a safe place for female patrons to have fun.

She said the two (Nyoni and Nkolomi) should realise that Pub Lagondola had become more than a business and was a place for people to meet and foster friendships.

“It was no longer a business or a place where people got drunk. It’s more than that. I’ve been a patron there for some time now and I made friends and got business contacts from there.

“It had become a space where young women like me could drink our alcohol without being judged by society,” said Gwinji.

For Vusumuzi Dube, the closure has robbed him of a place where he can have sundowners with work colleagues.

“We hope everything that’s going on is resolved soonest. This is because some of us have lost a place where we can hang out as professionals after work in a relaxed atmosphere,” said Dube. The Chronicle