‘A strip club is not a whore house’

THE owner of  the Durban Teazers Strip Club and now the man behind Gordon’s Pub in uMhlanga has neither confirmed nor denied whether  he will be opening a strip club in the village. Already the local ward councillor said it would be a bad idea.

Speaking exclusively to Northglen News, Shaun Russouw ,who lives in Prestondale, said if he did decide to open a strip club he would call it Diamond Grill and Lounge. The 47-year-old hit the spotlight when he became the manager of Durban’s first Teazers Strip club in Springfield Park in 2000. At the time the controversial Lolly Jackson (who was shot dead on May 3 2010 near OR Tambo Airport ) who became known around the country as the owner of the Teazers franchise of strip clubs, owned the establishment. Russouw took over in 2006.

He is also embroiled in a legal battle with Jackson’s widow Demi in which he claims that the Durban club together with Lolly’s green Lamborghini had been left to him in the Teazer’s founder will.

Now Russouw (47) has raised the ire of uMhlanga residents as he sets about not only revamping the newly acquired Gordon’s Pub but also thinking about turning the popular pub into a strip club.  Speaking from Gordon’s Pub Russouw, who is married to a 27-year-old Ukranian, Iryna Kradozhon, said it was hypocritical of residents to say they were opposed to the proposed venture.

“Residents can’t complain on moral grounds. In January there was a R5-million drug bust in uMhlanga, several prostitutes rent out rooms in uMhlanga to ply their trade. There is a shop on Lagoon Drive that sells sex toys, that’s hypocritical. Now they will be opposed to this?”

Russouw said it would be impossible to tell that a strip club was operating from the premises and that it would be a  “high class operation”.

“We don’t tolerate drugs and never have. A strip club is a strip club and a whore house is a whore house. I am not in the business of prostitution. There is no money exchanged for sex.”

Russouw said they his business was legitimate and that his liquor license entitled him to have live entertainment.  What’s more said Russouw the grill would be serving food and the entire operation  would cater for couples and professional people.

However uMhlanga councillor, Heinz de Boer maintains that the opening  of a strip club, was not an option.

“It doesn’t make sense to build that type of business in uMhlanga. The area is not designed for this type of entertainment. There is an overwhelming number of people who are against the proposal.

“There’s no problem with a pub and grill but the Town Planning department does not allow for a strip club. The bottom line is the location of the proposal is not right,” he said.