Return of the buzz

by Banathi Nkehli | Oct 12, 2023 | News

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Oh my this is awkward. Having to tell you who I am is a whole ordeal because I am still trying to figure that out myself lol. The most I know at this point is that, I am an unhinged hillbilly from a small town in Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal; My first love had “Petronella” as a middle name (gross right?); I will on occasion get dressed in a onesie, using my red blankie as a cape to live out my fantasy of being the caped crusader of justice: Captain Tanuki; Finally, I have an obsession with owls that should get its own section in the DSM-V. On that owl thing, I feel like in one of my many past lives as a shrew somewhere in the world, I met my end to one of those majestic birds and that specific bird reincarnated as my first love who, at the time of writing, has not killed me…yet! Talk about a circle of life, neh. My goals? Well right now, I have but one very simple goal: to be the best human I can possibly be. Achieving that would make a hillbilly like me, a better person and growth is always good. My time at the paper has made sure I stay on this path. Should a lost soul wanting to know about the paper, stumbles across this bio, I want you to know that I will totally be a radically different person in the best way possible. Who knows, I might have reincarnated as an owl, by then.

At the start of 2023, students were greeted with a wonderful surprise, the return of Coffee Buzz after two years of the
doors to the student café experience remained shut since the days of the covid-19 pandemic. Returning with new management and more to offer, PDBY interviewed the manager of Coffee Buzz Niel Sirmon to get a feel of the comeback the University of Pretoria desperately needed.

So what happened to coffee buzz?

When asked what happened to Coffee Buzz since its door shut in 2020 Sirmon responded, “So the previous owner has been here for about 25 years and she fell on hard times with a COVID-19. So, it was a bit of a struggle for her. She lost her husband, moved to Cyprus to live with her daughters for a bit and came back.” Sirmon added, “She [the
previous owner] was a bit older and looked for new management to help her set up the place again and get going.”

So what’s new about Coffee Buzz?

So on this subject Sirmon notes that the first thing that’s new about Coffee Buzz is its clientele as Sirmon states, “so the place has been closed by now for lets say two and a half years, so most of the students have turned by now so post graduates might know the old Coffee Buzz.” In light of this, they decided to change things up a bit, “so the menu has changed a bit, we never did fried food so we brought that in, lots of chips and chicken strips are going out.” Sirmon adds, “We’ve gotten good responses so far, the students are happy, we’re happy.”

So why choose Coffee Buzz

On this Sirmon simply says, “The name says it all, the buzz. There’s a little buzz on campus that says Coffee Buzz is here, so that’s why our containers are black, so that we can distinguish ourselves from other places and when people usually see our food they go, ‘wow let’s try it.’ We’ve got a friendly staff and a lekker environment we’re always willing to help.” Sirmon concluded in saying, “we’re like a little happy family and we are always ready to help where we can.”

The message to students

Sirmon leaves students with a couple of things to keep in mind, “we’re always trying new things, seeing who likes what and what sells best, and all I want students to know is that there’s a new buzz on campus.”