WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Travelling through Owambo, the names of cuca shops are as amusing as they are intriguing. Some are named after events that took centre stage globally, such as Sarajevo Bar and Baghdad. Others bear the names of distant places like Kilimandjaro and California or places that most likely evoked the memories of the owner – like Mondesa Bar and Dolphin Park. And what could have inspired the owner of Gulliver’s Bar to name his establishment after the book, Gulliver’s Travels, which was first published way back in 1726?

Among my personal favourites are Key Lost Bar and Last Dollar Bar – not forgetting Middle Age Bar which fits my profile perfectly!

These usually small informal liquor outlets are named after the Angolan Cuca beer – an abbreviation of Comphania União de Cervejas de Angola (United Brewing Company of Angola) which opened a brewery in Luanda, Angola, in 1947.

The sale of intoxicating liquor, defined as all products with an alcohol content of more than 3%, to ‘native’ Namibians was prohibited under the terms of South Africa’s League of Nations mandate over what was then known as South West Africa. Legislation was later introduced to allow the operation of beer halls by municipalities in urban areas. The alcohol content could, however, not exceed 3.5%.

The South African authorities could do little to stop the brisk trade of sprits and Cuca beer (without paying beer tax), from Angola into Owambo though– despite an appeal to the Portuguese authorities to tighten controls. It became very popular and widely available in Owambo throughout the 1960s and the early 1970s.

These generally square, flat-roofed buildings are often painted in bright colours also sell a limited selection of basic groceries and canned foods. They play an important role in the socialisation of Owambo’s people. This is where people meet to discuss the news of the day and to find out what’s happening in far-flung places like Oranjemund, Lüderitz, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund.

Cuca beer disappeared from the shelves in Owambo when the Angolan civil war broke out in 1975 and cross-border trade came to a standstill. This created the opportunity for South West Breweries to supply Owambo with beer, including a lager called Wambo Lager.

Following Angola’s independence in 1975, the Angolan government nationalised and amalgamated Companhia União de Cervejas de Angola and three other breweries and formed a new state-owner company, Empresa Nacional de Cervejas de Angola (National Beer Enterprise of Angola) in 1980. The French wine and beer company, Groupe Castel, bought a minority stake in the company from the government in 1994 and the remaining shares in 2007.

Following the privatisation of Angola’s state-owned enterprises, Cuca beer, a golden yellow pale lager with an alcohol content of 4.9%, is exported to Namibia and several other countries and can be bought at several liquor outlets in Windhoek and further north.