For the first time in eleven years Café Riche had to cancel the philosophy cafe meeting scheduled for the evening of 27 March 2009. This discussion has become a monthly fixture, on the last Friday evening of every month.
At approximately 17:30 a group of fifteen protestors arrived at the cafe situated on Church Square in Pretoria. They got out of a municipal bus that had parked in front of the western facade of the square. The protestors were brandishing placards accusing Lamé Ebersöhn, the owner of Café Riche, of racism. Some of the slogans displayed were: “To hell with Lame” and “She must go now.” Some of the participants were wearing Zuma T-shirts.
The protestors toyi-toyied and sang. Several of them uttered death threats in both Zulu and English against Lamé Ebersöhn.
It appeared as if Joe Mkhize, ANC-councillor for ward 60 and one of the prominent protestors, was the leader of the group. He threatened that his group would protest at Café Riche for the next two weeks until ms Ebersöhn leaves the restaurant.
According to ms Ebersöhn the incident upset her tremendously. “I am known as someone who really has the interest of Church Square and the civil society at heart. Cancelling the philosophy café is a sad day for open discussion forums, which we pride ourselves on. Speakers representing the entire political spectrum have spoken here in the past. I simply do not understand this intolerance. I have always maintained a good relationship with my personnel and guests. The hospitality, as well as the warm reception at Café Riche, is well-known.”
It appears as if the allegations of racism form part of an orchestrated campaign to force ms Ebersöhn to either leave the restaurant or to sell the business. Several recent incidents of sabotage, theft, absconding staff members, as well as earlier threats, have contributed to this perception.
In the meantime ms Ebersöhn has called for a return to calm. ”The election will be taking place soon and politicians are trying to score points, also on a local level. I will not be intimidated. This suspicion-mongering is unacceptable. In the end it is freedom of speech and the fundamental right to trade freely that are also at stake here. I am planning to lodge a complaint of hate speech with the police against the persons who threatened to kill me.”
