A strip club quietly opened its doors in Hartbeespoort on Friday, 1 April, creating a stir among residents and businesses.

The Moulin Rouge ‘gentlemen’s club’, as it is advertised, opened at Little Paris (French Toast) on Friday, offering the first 50 visitors “free entry and a lap dance”.
Preparation for the strip club has gone mainly undetected at Little Paris and signage went up overnight on Thursday.
Opening night activities will take place in the open-air area around the Eiffel Tower replica at Little Paris.
Advertisement pamphlets handed out at the Beethoven Road/R511 crossing early on Friday morning promise ‘An extravagant opening night, an entry fee of R100 to pamphlet holders, free lap dance for the first 50 visitors, quality adult entertainment, good food and loads of fun!”
Paul Kruger, the owner of Little Paris, confirmed the opening of the club on Friday, saying the owners requested to use the venue’s Eiffel Tower to recreate the vibe of the well-known Moulin Rouge in Paris, famous for its scantily clad dancers and extravagance.
“Dancers will be ascending the tower for their show and health and safety officers have been on scene this week to ensure the dancers’ safety. The show will definitely showcase our iconic tower.” He said he could not comment on the advertised lap dances as he is not fully informed of what the opening would entail. “However, we support job creation after two difficult pandemic years and this will hopefully boost visitor numbers to Little Paris. I have met some of the dancers, many of them from Russia, and they seemed very professional,” Paul said.
The club will be housed in the double-storey building on the premises that was formerly used as a dance studio.
Kormorant asked tenants what they thought of the addition of a strip club to Little Paris.
“We knew the large building had a new tenant as we saw shop fitting activities the past two weeks but we had no idea that it was going to be a strip club. That’s not so bad, Hartbeespoort needs some action,” a tenant at Little Paris laughed. Werner “The Ref” Nagel just said, “lekker man, lekker…”.
However, several tenants are concerned about the clientele the club may draw to the venue. “Little Paris has a unique atmosphere and that is why we rent premises here. A strip club will draw all kinds of unsavoury people.”
Kormorant visited the club on Friday morning and spoke to the owner, Tito Derriere who said the club was a private social club with strict admittance rules. “Visitors will have to become club members on a referral basis. We are a reputable establishment with franchises in Cape Town and Sandton and offer quality adult entertainment.” He did not want to elaborate on the entertainment and said we may apply to become a member of the club.
According to the advertisement, the extravaganza starts at 20:00 and promises fireworks.