Peter Bachtis writes by email:
Back in the 60s and 70s Brakpan was wild as the gangs from Benoni had marathon battles with the gangs from Brakpan, using knuckle dusters, flick knives and an assortment of other weapons.
The Brakpan town hall and the Hellenic hall would be the venues for “sessions” where teenagers would converge on Friday nights to party, meet their girlfriends or boyfriends, and generally get disorderly.
There were two cinemas (they were known as bioscopes back then) and kids would flock to either the Grand or the Astor.
Neither of these exists today.
Back then, most of the corners were taken up by either Greek-owned cafés or Portuguese-owned fish and chip and vegetable shops.
Also read: AfriForum Brakpan spreek misnoeë uit nadat landmerkgebou brand
All these corners are now occupied by Pakistani and Bangladeshi businessmen offering much-needed convenience shopping.
The Black Cat grill was a focal point for testosterone loaded ducktails, drinking milkshakes and playing pinball machines.
The most famous roadhouse on the East Rand was The Casbah, which still exists today.
This is where Brakpan’s own rock and rollers Johnny Kongos and the G Men launched their careers.
Their smash hit at that time was a song penned by Johnny’s mom called Tulips for Toinette.
Johnny went on to have a measure of success in the UK and is the proud parent of the members who make up the now popular band Kongos, who live and work in America.
Later in the 70s, a band emerged making Brakpan famous.
Who remembers éVoid?
Great memories!
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