ZIMBABWE: Harare Bars And Clubs Attract Customers Using Strippers

Hard economic situation in the country has not spared the entertainment industry, with competition for the few customers who have disposable incomes getting tougher and tougher for night clubs and bar owners.

As a way of luring patrons, most bars in Harare, in both the city centre and in suburbs, have resorted to hiring strippers as a way of luring patrons to their drinking holes.

A snap survey conducted revealed that quite a number of night spots now hired young girls to dance naked in their pubs as sloshed patrons cheer them on while they drink the night away.

While a number of the clubs just used to have pole dancers, featuring popular dancers such as Bev and Joey, and dancing queens, they have now gone a gear up, presenting ladies in their birth suits as part of their entertainment packages.

Although bar owners refused to speak about the nude shows, some revellers said they were enticed by the dancing ladies as they gave them a refreshing feeling away from the pressures of work and family problems.

"The ordinary home environment is sometimes boring and you sometimes need to come to shows like these and unwind after a hard day's work," a reveller in one of the clubs, only identified as Alois, said.

Another reveller who spoke on condition of anonymity said men were naturally attracted to women and seeing them naked was even more inviting.

"You have seen how men turn as if they will twist their necks when they meet beautiful women in town; and you can imagine seeing one naked; that is really a catch. People will come and spend their money looking at these women even if they know they will not take them home," he said.

According to the Zimbabwe Censorship and Entertainments Control Act any person wishing to perform at a public space has to seek approval from the Censorship Board.

"Subject to this section, no person shall perform in or give or permit the giving of any public entertainment unless such public entertainment has been approved by the Board," reads section 16

According to the Act, any approved entertainment has to be issued with a certificate upon payment of a prescribed fee.

Pole dancers Beverly Sibanda and Noleen Sifelani, a.k.a Zoey, who are both licensed by the censorship board, were at some point arrested in 2012 and charged with public indecency.