Cape Town - Provocative images of women clad in scanty nun outfits and clutching firearms or alcohol have set the tone for a bizarre property battle gripping the city centre’s trendy Bree Street.
The conflict, which exposes the seedier side of the popular hub, focuses on a pub cheekily named Nunnery, which some claim is a brothel.
But those behind the Nunnery have brushed off the claims, saying a particular property group is smearing their name in a bid to force them out of the area.
In the latest twist in the risqué saga, an advert was posted on the Nunnery’s Facebook page this week saying it was for sale “due to personal reasons”.
Garith Nunn, who runs the Nunnery, confirmed he was trying to offload the lease after several companies stopped doing business with him over the brothel allegations.
Weekend Argus has confirmed a controversial businessman with strong ties to the security industry is considering taking over the lease.
It is situated at 207/209 Bree Street, opposite St Paul’s Anglican Church.
On one side of the property is a premises which, according to the valuation roll, is owned by the City of Cape Town.
Seven consecutive premises on the other side are owned by Urban Lime Property South Africa, a company specialising in urban regeneration.
This week lawyer Percy Choritz, of the Choritz Trust which owns the Nunnery building and who offered R10 000 to anyone who could prove it was a brothel, said police visits to the premises found no evidence it was being run as one.
“Unlike the complainants, I as an attorney am not in the happy position of being able to make unsubstantiated allegations without consequences to my reputation,” he said, adding that it appeared someone was trying to pressure him into selling the property.
JP Smith, the city’s Safety and Security mayoral committee member, said members of the city’s liquor enforcement unit inspected the premises last October.
“No contraventions were observed.”
Smith said the establishment had been issued a massage licence by the health department.
The debacle surrounding the pub started on April 29 when Katherine Friedman, global marketing director for Urban Lime, posted about the issue on the Facebook page Bree Street.
She wrote the post in her personal capacity after helping a young woman at the beginning of this year, she said.
“She was working (at the Nunnery), had been thrown out of the premises and her money taken away from her, bruises on her arms, etc.
“I calmed her down, but when I suggested we call the police to sort this out but she became hysterical again.”
Friedman said she first noticed something unusual was going on at the Nunnery four years ago.
“I regularly witnessed single men going in and out at all times and frequently saw the working girls arriving and leaving.
“There were regular raids and evictions on the property too… the brothel always started up again, the next day.”
In 2014 she said her unease increased.
When Weekend Argus visited the Nunnery this week there were no patrons at the establishment.
A red couch was pushed into a corner of a main lounge area.
Black and white photographs of women clad in scanty nun’s habits adorned the wall above a bar.
A “confession wall” near the bathrooms bore various messages scrawled in white chalk.
One message said “behave yourself”, while another named a woman as being “the best sex”.
Business property has dodgy past
The property housing the Nunnery, which some claim is a brothel masquerading as a pub, has a murky past.
Number 207 Bree Street has been listed as an adult entertainment venue.
Two years ago several adverts were posted and are still available online, saying 207 Bree Street housed Phoenix Escorts or Phoenix Strip Club.
An advert on its still accessible Facebook page advertises “early worm catches the bird specials”, costing patrons R500 for a visit during the day from Monday to Friday.
In 2012 an alleged escort agency, Bedazzled, was run from the premises. It was shut down as a result of court action.
Number 207 Bree Street is still registered as the address for the website Callagirl.com, geared towards adults looking for company.
But Garith Nunn, who runs the Nunnery and who registered the Callagirl website, claimed it was not linked to the premises in any other way.
Saturday Argus