The club will be opening in the alley, linking Walter Sisulu with Iraq taxi rank, where prominent business man Mr Zulu du Toit, owns three shops in a free standing building on the street front.

The back building, where the club will open, is zoned as Business 1, which mandates public consultation after which council must make a final ruling on Mr O. I. Okeke’s application, that is yet to be handed to town planners.

The notice will be published for the last time today (Friday), whereafter the application will be considered alongside all objections lodged.

In the meantime, the SAPS this week confirmed that the owner of Sideline refuses to close the club at midnight in stead of 02:00, following a number of violent fights at Sideline the past couple of weekends.

Captain Khanyisile Zwane, told the Observer that previous fights ensued when black patrons of Diamond Lounge, which closes at midnight, spill over to Sideline with its predominantly white clientele.

It has emerged that since the takeover of Sideline late last year, every single white bouncer employed by the club, had resigned due to racial clashes.

The owner of both Diamond Lounge and Sideline, has appointed family members to look after his local business interests while he’s abroad in China.

The liquor licence desk of the SAPS furthermore consults with the Chinese owner through Aldes business brokers, thanks to the communications breakdown.

The new club will be in very close proximity to Diamond Lounge and Sideline, as well as Laduma Tavern and Club Friday’s, a nightclub that opened in October last year, and whose liquor licence enables them to close at 02:00 alongside Sideline.

If the new club opens at the proposed spot, there will be two nightclubs and two taverns situated meters from one another, which bothers existing licence holders like Mr Chris Lombard, co-owner of Friday’s, who says the area is fast becoming over saturated with entertainment venues.

He says that his license compels him to keep noise levels down and that a new nightclub might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for homeowners around Iraq.

The possibility of a new nightclub sent shivers down the spines of seasoned drug investigators, with some calling on the municipality to veto the application without consideration.

“The area is a hot spot for drugs,” one of the cops told the Observer on Wednesday.

According to captain Zwane, the SAPS still have to make a recommendation to the liquor board before a licence is granted.

She could however not say whether an application had been received and whether an inspection had taken place.

As soon as the the municipality receives the formal application, it would be sent for a legal review, an insider confirmed shortly before going to print.

gerhard@mobserver.co.za