Once we regain our composure, it is time to finish the night off with one of Durban’s greatest inventions: Gqom. DJ Lag is playing at the second venue and we must be part of that magic. We move on to a space a bit more industrial and hidden. Our taxify driver seems a bit hesitant to enter the alley way. “Oh, old Unit 11 used to be here”, is the memory that reminds us we’re in a safe enough space.

We enter an elevator and arrive on the fourth floor, curious to see where we’ll end up. Overlooking the Moses Mabhida Stadium, the yellow and black metrorail trains, Morningside homes, and even the glorious Indian Ocean, we find we’ve arrived at Views at Twenty5, or just ‘Views’ to most.

Speaking to Gift Ngxeke during the festivities, business partner and manager of Views, Ngxeke explains how he and his cousin, Kgolo Daguru Mthembu took over the venue in June 2017. “I have travelled extensively and I have lived overseas for over eight years. I’ve been around,” he says. Visiting places such as London, Germany, Austria, Poland, Spain, Belguim, and Gaslow, says Ngxeke, allowed the cousins to imagine big things for their own city. “[Kgolo] was quite taken by the beauty and how the bars and the nightlife were structured and we felt there was an opportunity for something like that here, too.”

Further inside Views, you notice a distinct shift in atmosphere from the chilled, artsy aura of The BAT. Views is decked out with the whitest lounge sets, walls with Adam and Eve-esque murals, and stern-looking folk with ear pieces keeping the space tight. In the bathroom there’s a suited-up young man, ready with soap gel and a towel. “What we offer here, the service, the cocktails, the food, even tonight is a prime example,” says Ngxeke. “Hosting Zakifo, it’s profound and the best opportunity you could ever find.”

In the short time they’ve been around, Views has already hosted artists and public figures such as Babes Wodumo, DJ Tira, Boity, Mini ‘Mrs Jones’ Dlamini, TKZee, Zakes Bantwini, and now the many local and international musicians of Zakifo. “We can’t keep track,” says Ngxeke. “I’m very much underground, and the line-up of Zakifo is not your ordinary line up that you’d hear over radio. It’s a very eclectic mix, they’ve done very well to include local artists, big and small.”

The night ends off as DJ Lag gives us all new life. The Friday of Zakifo was an intense experience, setting the bar high for the rest of the festival.

Changing the status quo

as told by its people and spaces

by Youlendree Appasamy