Rediscovering Yeoville - E@t Arabi's Good Food in Yeoville

There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life. - Fellini, Frederico.

Having arrived in Jo ’burg in 2004 I had never ventured into Yeoville, I had passed by it, glanced at the street leading to it but never gone into it. Everyone I met like a jilted lover spoke of its past and how it’s a hell hole that you should never by the grace of God ever get lost in. Like a fallen woman ostracized by society, Yeoville was that girl.

2 weeks back whilst travelling in Durban I came across a 2012 Marie Claire and in the travelling section they featured an array of mouth-watering food pictures taken from a restaurant in Yeoville. E@t Arabi's Good Food, a vegetarian restaurant in the midst of the mess that is Yeoville? Impossible, but my curiosity was roused and upon arriving back in jo’burg I called my friend to let her know that we had to go to this place.

That very Saturday with my sister, yogi’s and my Canadian couch surfer Vivi (having travelled broadly it would be interesting to get a stranger’s perspective on the safety of the area), we made our way to Yeoville. As I turned into Rocky road I expected some dilapidated buildings, poor faces but I was greeted with vibrancy like no other, different from the congestion that is Hillbrow. I saw a lot of different African restaurant’s, tall beautiful black men, fit enough to be part of any army and so well dressed in various African print couture that they could have been taken off the ramps of SA Fashion Week. I saw mothers walking with their children, a Nandos, a park with kids playing in it and a striking mosaic public swimming pool building. Amidst all this sensory assimilation, I realized I was lost I could not find this restaurant. I asked a car guard and he directed me to the exact spot. This restaurant was in fact a tiny space about 2 metres wide, it’s an open working space with the kitchen towards the back of the room, an assortment of spices all in full view. Headlines cover the extractor and the cook is rolling flour free pure chickpea falafel. The aroma of spices and curry had me instantly hungry, as we all tucked in the goodness of the food, silence fell upon the room as sighs of satisfaction were shared amongst us. Food cooked with love.

It wasn’t long before we were greeted with a warm “family welcome” hugs shared all round and finally I met the man behind the pictures that had brought me to Yeoville. A huge smile and quick wit had me entranced. Not only did he welcome total stranger like he had always known us but he shared his thoughts so freely with us. Having lived in Yeoville for close to 20 years, Sanza is a well of knowledge, he can tell you the history of the place and this of course was interspersed with locals who passed by to see and greet his guests. In one sitting I met more nationalities from Africa than I had met in 1 month in the Northern suburbs.

The pavements where abuzz with activity; a Malawian vendor selling pineapples from a trolley, we were treated to these pineapples by a guest of Sanza’s from Cameroon. The Ethiopian next door running Happy Supermarket peaked around the corner in acknowledgement of our presence, and a Rastafarian passed by saying “Faya”, real people, going about their daily life; interacting with each other more than we do in suburban malls.

Walking up the street I saw a memorial poster for a local lady who had passed away placed in a shop window; in a foreign country where some have no family they have made their own family through their shared experience as migrants. Yeoville is a ghetto yet it’s alive with possibility, it has every character you can think of, it’s not all rosy but people know each other, they live together with their differences and make it work. I was at ease and as careful as I am in Sandton of being pick-pocketed.

I do find it sad that we will let things go to ruin when change arises instead of seeing the possibility that change can bring. Can we not be like trees, that even though they shed their leaves in winter they do not die from that loss but grow new leaves? Things change the entire time can we not be abundant in how we see things.

Venture into Yeoville and see it for yourself, find Sanza’s restaurant even CNN Africa travel found it I’m sure you can.