Kasi Business | Fine dining, township-style

It's not your ordinary township restaurant serving the usual pap and vleis. Brima Café in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni, has brought class to the East Rand area.

Owner and managing director of the eatery, Tshepo Mokholo, son of the late jazz star, Johnny Mekoa, is not shy to say you must come prepared to open your wallet to sample some of the dishes on Brima Cafe's menu.

The only thing the place exudes is class and elegance, normally experienced at suburban restaurants.

Mokholo, 46, says his restaurant started operating in 2012, when it was officially opened, to much fanfare.

The Sunday World team visited Brima Cafe and the place changed our perceptions about elegant wining and dining, township-style.

"It all started after I realised that people were escaping from their home areas to eat out in town, in places like the Sandtons and Rosebanks, and now recently The Mall of Africa.

"Even my friends were asking me [why] should we go out of Daveyton for meals," he said.

"I told my friends and others that I was ready to renovate and turn my house into a restaurant similar in structure to some of the top eateries in the suburbs."

The restaurant's decor is welcoming. The tables are adorned with paper table cloths and place mats depicting the history of the township.

The people featured include late celebrities that had an impact on the social life of Daveyton, such his own late father Mekoa, the jazz legend.

Other local artists featured in the decor include late Afro-pop star Lebo Mathosa.

Mokholo's place caters for families dining out, couples and friends wanting to have a sit-down party.

It offers different meals which include its speciality, a tasty and saucy burger made from a home-made beef patty, and an a la carte menu. The Sunday buffet is hugely popular with the locals and visitors from outside Daveyton.

Brima Cafe's has also provided much needed employment to local youth. Even more, Mokholo says he is in the process of giving 10% of the business' shares to his workers.

The restaurant is the extension of Mokholo's business interest, after he had founded Brima Logistics. Now, with a national footprint Brima Logistics provides services such as courier, trucking and warehousing.

"The whole [restaurant] business is sustained by the logistics entity. We get our staff to be trained in what they do, so as to help change their mindset and view themselves as part of the business family."

* BrimaCafé is located on 417 Sikundu Street, Daveyton, near Marivate Park.