Golden draughts and gold surges mark Joburg’s beer legacy

Gold is back in the spotlight. This week the yellow metal surged past the $3,500 (R61,950) an ounce barrier, hitting an all-time high of $3,578.50 before easing back on profit-taking ahead of key US economic data.

For Johannesburg, gold is more than a commodity price on a trading screen. It is the foundation on which the city was built in the late 1800s, when fortune seekers rushed to the Reef and a shanty town grew into a financial hub.

Mining towns such as Pilgrims Rest and Barberton, now heritage attractions, still allow tourists to pan for alluvial gold.

There’s even an underground pub at Gold Reef City.

Dr Azar Jammine, director and chief economist at Econometrix, has said the surging price carries a “psychological” effect that continues to benefit local miners, with share prices tracking higher.

Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE, added that the market is taking a breather, but sentiment remains strong.

Alongside the mines, pubs sprang up to quench the thirst of miners and traders. Beer and gold became inseparable in the city’s story.

The Guildhall, once located in Marshalltown, claimed to be Johannesburg’s oldest pub, opening either in the late 1800s or in 1906.

A male-only establishment, it served miners who came in from the shafts.

It has long since closed, its wooden counters and beer-stained walls remembered only in tales.

The Radium Beerhall in Orange Grove, however, survives.

Opened in 1929 by the Khalil family as a tearoom, it doubled as a shebeen, selling liquor to black customers barred from drinking “white man’s booze”.

By 1942, it had secured a wine and malt licence, and the tearoom became the Radium Beerhall. Its ancient bar, now more than a century old, was salvaged from the Ferreirastown Hotel.

That bar also carries the marks of the 1922 Miners’ Rebellion, when “Pick Handle Mary” stood on it to deliver fiery speeches urging miners to resist. It is history you can still touch with your glass of beer today.

In 1944, Joe Barbarovich took over the licence, and the Radium became a community landmark.

Tales abound of eccentric customers and obstreperous barmen.

The spit-and-sawdust era ended in 1986 when Manny Cabeleira, who is quite a character, took ownership, introducing Portuguese food, live music, and a more cosmopolitan clientele.

Since 1994, the Radium has been celebrated in overseas travel guides as an authentic South African experience.

Jazz nights, TV shoots, and even Savannah adverts featuring comedian David Hilton have cemented its place as a Joburg icon.

After Cabeleira’s death in 2021, his wife Lina tried to sell the pub, but no buyer emerged at the right price last year.

“I have been around for 40 years. Since Manny passed away, I have had to deal with keeping the business going on my own,” she said at the time.

As bullion breaks new records, it is worth remembering that the fortunes of miners, traders, and publicans have always been intertwined — beer flowing as freely as the gold that put Joburg on the map.