stitute for barley in the brewing process. Sorghum beer, as
brewed in South Africa, has a very sourish taste and is
cloudy. The lager enthusiast will find it difficult to
appreciate the taste of sorghum beer.
Cluster director lean Lou Homé (right)
visits a shebeen in Soweto township
JOINT VENTURE
Heineken South Africa is a joint venture between Heineken
and South African Breweries in which Heineken has a 51%
shareholding. Mario van Geldern is the managing director
of Heineken South Africa and he is assisted by four other
board members, two from SAB and two from Heineken.
Before his arrival in Johannesburg, Mr Van Geldern had held
various posts, including that of area export manager for
Heineken in the Caribbean.
The Heineken South Africa office is literally and figura
tively only a stone's throw away from the head office of
South African Breweries. Mr Van Geldern is pleased with
the location of the new office. "On the one hand we have
our own identity and on the other we have a great deal to
do with SAB in practice, so it's good that we're so close
together."
The task facing Mario van Geldern is to boost the sales
of Heineken Beer, which is now imported from the
Netherlands, to such a level that it will be possible to
change over to local brewing in the SAB breweries. He does
this work together with Hilary Jamieson, who has long
been marketing manager with SAB and has been responsi
ble for marketing Heineken and Castle Light for the past
couple of years, and Marianne Jefferies, who oversees the
financial aspects of the business. Several months ago they
were joined by George Motshana, sales manager. "George is
a tower of strength within the SAB sales force. He's already
won various awards for his sales achievements. So I'm
expecting a lot of him." George will be concentrating
exclusively on what is euphemistically referred to as 'the
informal market'.
The informal market is to be found in the townships,
the poor districts where the black people live. SAB supplies
the beer direct to IRDs, Informal ReDistributors. In turn the
IRDs sell the beer to 'runners', who ensure that the beer
eventually finds its way into the small shops and into the
outlets known as shebeens. Though they may have a diffe
rent name elsewhere, shebeens are also found in other
parts of the world. They are small houses which people
from the neighbourhood visit to drink a quick beer. You can
hardly call them pubs or bars. They are living rooms and
they are also an important meeting place. In Soweto alone
1.3 million hectolitres of beer a year are sold via the 15,000
to 20,000 shebeens. There are thousands of runners.
What has Heineken got to do with these shebeens? "We
meanwhile have what we call elite shebeens, somewhat
more up-market establishments that have a good image for
Heineken. Those are the businesses that are interesting for
Heineken", says Mr Van Geldern.
According to George Motshana, relationships are very
important for a sales manager in South Africa. And George
ought to know, as he was salesman of the year. "You have
to know the people and build up a relationship with them.
But it's not only relationships that count. You have to have
a good business proposition to make to them. If the rela
tionship with the client is okay but you have a poor busi
ness proposition, you will not sell."
SHEBEENS
To describe the beer culture in South Africa, you have to fly
in the face of the country's new politically correct rules and
make a distinction between whites and blacks. The black
population prefer to drink beer from the 75 cl bottle. This
big bottle is put on the table in a shebeen and shared with
friends. The idea behind it: if you can't afford to pay for a
beer today, there's no need to miss out. What's not possible
today may well be possible tomorrow. Today I'll help you,
tomorrow it might be your turn to buy a drink for me.
The big bottle is placed on the table in the shebeens and
there's much talk and laughter. The visitors there are 'ille
gal'. Shebeens are outlets that officially do not exist. They
have no licence from the government. As we learnt from a
shebeen owner in Pretoria's Mamelodi township, it's not a
question of unwillingness but a lack of regulation on the
part of the government. "If they want me to get a licence,
that's okay by me. But they will have to come up with
realistic rules to apply for such a licence."
Often, a shebeen is simply a living room, a room used 1
by people from the neighbourhood to get together, to socia-
lise. They enjoy a few drinks (mostly beer) and have a chat.
In some of the elite shebeens there is a billiard table so that
visitors can shoot a little pool. Shebeens in Soweto are seen
by their visitors as a home from home. A safe place to meet
with people you know.
There are various types of shebeens: the 'elite she-
beens', the more well-appointed establishments which have