The renowned Cape Town bar Beerhouse is closing after exactly 11 years amid death threats towards founder Randolf Jorberg stemming from a Carte Blanche exposé.
The bright yellow popular spot, known for its 99 craft beers, opened on August 2, 2013, International Beer Day.
In September 2020, Beerhouse owner Randolf Jorberg, then-chairperson of the Long Street Association, issued a rallying cry to other CBD business owners to unite against ‘extortion, intimidation, and racketeering.’
At the time, business owners believed the strong-arm tactics were an attempt by underworld bosses to recoup losses from nightclubs that were closed during the lockdown.
Jorberg said: ‘In the last days, many businesses that never had to pay for protection have been approached by (Nafiz) Modack’s gang to start paying him, asking for up to R20k a month.’
Jorberg received death threats and has since been living a nomadic lifestyle. He announced the closure of Beerhouse on his social media platforms on Wednesday afternoon.
Beerhouse wrote on Facebook that the abrupt end is indeed related to the Carte Blanche exposé in which Jorberg spoke out about the 2015 murder of one of his employees.
According to Jorberg, the extortion began in 2013, when a man from the ‘underworld’ paid a visit to the Long Street business.
He claims the kingpin proposed a protection fee, which Jorberg refused to pay until one of his employees was killed in 2015.
‘A man said if I pay them, I could call them if ever a group too big for our own doorman came in and behaved rowdy and I had to tell him that in two years of trade, the only time that my doorman had to deal with a group that is too big to handle was when he arrived with eight big men days prior.’
When Beerhouse on Long in Cape Town opened its doors in 2013, owner Randolf Jorberg refused to pay protection fees. But by 2015, the so-called security company made it clear: pay up or else… #CarteBlanche @govanwhittles pic.twitter.com/zhPZJQKhQj
— Carte Blanche (@carteblanchetv) July 21, 2024
‘The danger they protect you from is themselves. That is what makes it an obvious extortion,’ he said.
‘I believe that is what killed him (staffer), my decision not to pay.’
He ended up paying R2000 per month, and said a ‘few hundred businesses in town’ were paying protection fees.
According to a report released this year by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC), prominent figures in the city include Mark Lifman, Jerome ‘Donkie’ Booysen, and Nafiz Modack.
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End of an Era: Cape Town’s iconic Crowbar Pub closes after 128 years
Feature image: Beerhouse Facebook
X post: Carte Blanche
Article originally written and published by Murray Swart for Cape Etc
