You feel like you are on top of the world when you are on the 13th floor of the Radisson Hotel on Rivonia Road, Sandton.
This is where Jozi’s newest lounge bar, Zar, is situated – and it is arguably the most expensive in the country.
It is owned by rugby player Ashwin Willemse, Malcolm X, Gayton McKenzie and Kenny Kunene.
McKenzie and Kunene have transformed themselves into instant millionaires after being incarcerated in jail not so long ago.
Here, as director and marketing manager Malcolm X puts it, “the News Café and Wimpy crowd” is prohibited.
Malcolm says they are at the top because they are with top people. “We selected this place out of many for strategic reasons,” he says.
Zar is where folk with deep pockets make deals and spend serious money.
Here you can expect to pay top Zuid Afrikaanse Rand. What you fork out for a tot of 50-year-old Glenfiddich whisky will not be a whisper at all, it will be a loud bang at R15000, or almost R500000 for the entire bottle!
“We stock exclusive brands and are happy to be the only South African black-owned bar that hosts kings and queens – and provides the standards they are used to,” says Malcolm X.
From Zar the skyline stretches in all directions.
Among the sights is Alexandra, home to more than 500000 of the poorest of the poor.
“B efore you talk of waste and how many people could benefit from half a million, let me tell you that a lot of the people who come here are employers,” Malcolm says.
“Zar is a premium networking venue – people hang out here, but also do business, which benefits many people.”
Of course, that includes government big shots from Zimbabwe and Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, who came for a party.
“ We hosted Patrick Vieira’s birthday party, Prince Albert and Princess Caroline of Spain were here… so were Arsene Wenger and Luis Figo,” says Malcolm.
“And we pay well too,” he says. “Our waiters, who work a maximum three days a week, earn more than you and many other professionals.”
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