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Joe and Nieta Esterhuizen

Lifestyle Editor
If music be the food of love, then Disco Joe, now called Uncle Joe, who has been feeding the souls of the country for about four decades, deserves to be crowned the King of love.
Josiah Esterhuizen, to give him his full birth name, was born in Mutare in 1947 and worked in the technical department of Gestetner until he changed careers to take up signage. It was ill health that brought about that change, and the same reason forced him to cut back on his beloved passion.

Joe has been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and he needs an oxygen concentrator and monthly medication that cost over US$2000. He is unable to meet the costs. So those who partook of the food of love which he dished out over the years have come together to pay him back in kind.

Come September 6 the City Bowling Club will be the venue for the “Breathe Easier — Joe Esterhuizen Snr — Fundraiser”. Entrance fee will be $5 per person and a cash bar and light catering will be available,

“Let’s get together and support him the same way he has always been there to support all of us!” urges a flier put together by people who appreciate the years of fun, friendship and appreciation that Country Juke Box gave to different generations in their families.

This a touching tribute to Disco Joe’s run at the City Bowling Club in Harare Gardens where for 25 years he provided a social outing for diverse generations each fortnight.

People like Trevor and Mina Becker took their kids and then later grand kids to dance and chat with friends every second Saturday night as Joe played the records.

It was that kind of place as Joe demanded that those who came in be on their best behaviour.

“Joe has got rules. No ash and glasses on the floor. Dress decently and no shorts and no slops,” A patron told The Saturday Herald Lifestyle a few years back, when this paper celebrated Zimbabwe’s oldest DJ.

The songs were eclectic with old time western music slotted along with the likes of Andy Brown and Mafikizolo.

Without Contry Juke Box, the club is now a venue for other functions but Joe still plays here and there.

“People are so kind and they help me with the physical stuff so I do not have to lift anything and I still go and play,” says Joe who has remained in high spirits and has not lost a single jot of his good humour.

His wife Nieta says that Joe is really struggling to breathe and they are grateful to his friends for their kind concern and the effort to help him breathe easier

More details on the fundraising can be got from Belinda Ferreira on 0712607648