The liberalisation of the laws gave rise to escort agencies, sex shops and gambling casinos. Then the casinos were declared illegal and closed down. In their places loan companies sprang up, offering cash with no strings attached. The transition from apartheid to democracy has been difficult, but people generally have adapted well and are keen to get on with the job of making a living. This is evident by the current lack of support for mass gatherings and protest marches.
Organisers are lucky to muster a hundred people.
Perhaps the most significant indication of the city's power shift is the relocation of the prestigious Victoria Club from the city centre to an affluent suburb where it has merged with the equally exclusive Country Club. The Victoria Club was the symbol of the colonial regime par excellence . Membership was by invitation only, and women were required to use a side entrance right up into the 1980s. Declining numbers and crime were cited as the main reasons for the club s difficulties. Now the once-proud Victoria Club building has been cut up into into business rentals.