'It's friggin cool'
2003-05-04 21:54
Pretoria - "It's freaking cool, there are reporters here and everything."
These were the words that greeted about 50 heavily armed policemen as they raided Good for Fellows, a well-known nightclub in Hatfield, Pretoria, over the weekend.
The party came to an abrupt halt for "jollers" on Saturday night when they were ordered to sit on the floor, among the beer puddles and cigarette stubs, with their hands on their heads.
"People, remember this is an experience. Just co-operate and it will be a story you will be able to tell your grandchildren," the disk jockey on the first floor said in an attempt to calm the patrons.
Police stood on tables and blocked the exit to ensure that criminals and alleged drug dealers could not leave the premises.
About 400 people were searched in the raid.
"I had a terrible fright. I noticed a commotion at the door and the next thing, a man with a gun entered my office. I thought we were being robbed," Piet Viljoen, co-owner of the club, said.
He said he didn't object to the raid.
"We are known for our strong stance against drugs. The club is clean and we hand anything suspicious we find over to the police."
Inspector Anton Breedt, police spokesperson, said a bag of marijuana, speed, two ecstasy pills and a container of Rohiphnol, a date-rape drug, were found in the club.
One under-aged girl was arrested.
DJ Fourie, manager and one of the disk jockeys, said although patrons were searched at the doors, some still tried to smuggle drugs into the club.
Viljoen said they lost about R25 000 while the club was closed. He said about 70% of the clubbers returned to the club after the raid.