In 1986, Wilson Zulu returned from a long day’s work at the Balalaika Hotel, kissed his wife goodnight and woke up the next morning in a prison cell. During the night, the hotel was raided by the police. Zulu and his wife were arrested for not producing proper documentation and for being found spending the night at the all-white hotel during apartheid. The couple was bailed out by the hotel management. These unexpected raids become common and the hotel staff along with Zulu became accustomed to them.
Nineteen-year-old Zulu, from KwaZulu-Natal, moved to Johannesburg to find work. What he found when they got there was like a scene from an old western movie: dry land, rail roads and one hotel – the 66-year-old Balalaika. He walked in, asked for a job and started immediately as a cleaner. Two months later, he was promoted to a wine steward working in the bar, earning R38 a month. Forty two years later, Zulu is still at the doors of the hotel serving his guests their morning breakfast.
“During that time, there were no interviews; you just came to where you wanted to work. They ask you ‘can you do this?’ If you said yes, you carry on with it,” says Zulu.
For the last 42 years Zulu has lived by himself and sees his family just once a year, a tough and lonely arrangement but one that is very necessary for Zulu and most of the staff at the hotel.
“It’s fine; all they want from me is to buy something to eat and to wear. You can’t do anything without money, so when I leave, they say ‘go well,’” says Zulu.
Being at the same hotel for so long does guarantee a few regular friends.
“I’ve seen PJ Powers here; I’ve seen Johnny Clegg (the so-called ‘White Zulu’ musician) as well. Danny Jordaan, the SAFA President, used to join us for breakfast. Former Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda, was also here. My favorite regular is Clegg. I remember saying to him once, ‘No you can’t make Zulu dance now; you are too old.’ And he said to me, ‘No I am not’, and he stood up and started dancing. Whenever Clegg comes here, he looks for me,” says Zulu.
In the early eighties, Kaunda stayed at the Balalaika Hotel for almost six months because of unrest in his country. Zulu recalls him as not a very happy man.
“Just this morning I met one of my regulars at breakfast from Barloworld and he said to me, ‘Wilson you are still here?’”
After 10 years of service to the Balalaika, Zulu told himself that he will retire at the hotel because he felt that it would be too difficult to find and learn another job. And with little education he was happy he had a job at all.
Zulu’s best memory of his time at the hotel was between the years of 1970 to 1981, when he was crowned the best Zulu dancer.
“We were visited by the [branch] in Rivonia… every Christmas and we used to perform Zulu dances for the guests. There were judges that used to keep score and I was always number one, I was like Johnny Clegg,” says Zulu.
Despite all the ups and downs, Zulu has made the Balalaika his life and even though every single thing around him changed over the decades, nothing about him has changed much. A working day for Zulu begins exactly the same way it did in 1973, with a cup of tea.