Behind the bar with Emson Maduma
Local barmen spills the details on how he ended up working at Marks Park Sports Complex bar for over 40 years.
Picture it – it’s 1982 and a young man, after leaving his home in Zimbabwe, has now found his feet in Johannesburg.
Though the political climate of the time does not allow for a large range of job opportunities at his disposal, his will sure does.
This sense of will led Emson Maduma straight through the doors of Marks Park Sports Club where he would find the perfect position for himself behind the bar. A view he would go on to spend the next 41 years behind, mixing great drinks, having special conversations and being of admirable service to people.
Now 61 years old, he looks back at his time at the sports club with fondness and appreciation in a way only a man whose experiences have been both great and, at times, unfavourable, can.
When he started at the bar he was an ambitious 18-year-old. A trait that would see him not only do his job but that he also did it well, as he engaged with all sorts of people. “I am so happy to help my customers and here I get to talk to many people which is good because I am a welcoming guy, who loves all his customers. I just want more people to come which will make me happier because.”
Through the years, many of the customers he knew and had come to appreciate the company of, have since left the city or in some cases passed away. “In the early years, this bar was always full, but now, it is not like that anymore.”
The Bulawayo native has called Emmarentia home, all the years he has lived in South Africa. In this time, he has had the pleasure of turning customers into friends and colleagues into brothers.
Maduma’s love for his job is something he still holds great pride in and has stayed there all these years due to it. So much so that he meets the thought of his eventual retirement with great sadness, saying that even with his age, he still hopes to work for another four years or so.
He has no regrets about how his life has shaped out to be in through the many decades.
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