ADIOS JOKER JAKES, HELLO ACE

I was amazed at how much Berliners know about such South Africans as Ace Magashule, who is not even the president

There was a time during my peregrinations overseas — especially in the US — when I avoided journalists and academics because they had this tendency to organise a gathering, sometimes without my prior approval of the terms of engagement, where I would be expected to give a talk about Jacob Zuma.

They asked such crazy questions as: what is he up to now, and what does it mean in the larger scheme of things? Is he going to change the constitution?

His departure was a relief. I know I wasn’t the only local journo who got hijacked in this manner. I also know that Zuma’s departure was a blow to those of my intellectual friends who like a healthy dose of schadenfreude in their conversation.

In my sojourn in Berlin this past weekend I discovered that the intellectuals there have a new whipping boy: Ace Magashule. Who is this chap? Where did he come from? Is he as corrupt as the media claims? I was happy the questions weren’t directed at me but at a fellow South African who is based in the German capital, a political analyst whose grasp of the subject is impressive. He told me: “It’s as if Ace is a local villain, so many educated Germans have something to say about him.”

Like my newfound friend I was amazed at how conversant Berliners are with SA matters, especially if you consider that Magashule is not even the president. One of the guys even analysed the fate of Noby Ngombane, erstwhile head of the Free State policy monitoring and evaluation unit in the premier’s office. Ngombane was killed in mysterious circumstances outside his

house in Bloemfontein in 2005. His wife Nokwanda said he’d been murdered because he started uncovering the rot within the provincial government.

The exchange in Berlin reminded me of ANC veteran and academic Raymond Suttner who, in 2017, stirred a hornets’ nest when he wrote in his blog: “I do not say that Magashule murdered Ngombane, but it happened when he was in a top leadership position. Surely he knows more about the circumstance of Ngombane’s death and should share this with the public and help ensure that the killer(s) are brought to book.”

I just sat there as if watching a fascinating tennis match.

What enhanced my enjoyment was that we were also eating and drinking. The place was Dolores, a Mexican restaurant on Rosaluxemburg Street in east Berlin. The food is so popular, the place was like an upturned beehive.

I had the crazy beef burrito, expertly spiced and teeming with lettuce, tomato and chillies. At €7 it was a steal considering how big it was, and how expensive food is in this part of town. I had a number of bottles of Bayreuther Hell, a pale ale from southern Germany that went down well with the spicy food. My fellow South African had a bowl of crazy pork. Other people around the table had a fiesta of crunchy Mexican chips, salads and rice. The place is not only an amazing eatery, but a popular hang-out for the area’s intellectuals. It has the feel of New York’s East Village in the 1990s.

Next time you are in Berlin — and I know FM readers are generally always on the road — pay this place a visit. It’s a great antidote to hotel food, and is conveniently located close to the Rosa-luxemburg underground station. And it’s surrounded by other eating places, just in case you decide to go wild.

The place was not only an amazing eatery but a popular hang-out for the area’s intellectuals, with the East Village, New York City feel of the 1990s

Dolores

★★★★★

7 Rosa-luxemburg Street, Berlin, Germany Tel: +49-30-28099597

★★★★★ Mara Louw

★★★★ Angie Motshekga

★★★ Helen Zille

★★ Eskom

★ Ace Magashule