It’s shortly after 8pm on a mild Cape Town summer evening as the kitchen doors swing open in the Sea Palace Chinese restaurant and a man emerges with a tray of food. It’s not destined for diners but for his family upstairs.

Not a single table in the cavernous establishment is occupied. A lone crayfish stirs in a slowly bubbling tank at the entrance and music echoes from the loudspeaker as the Sea Palace prepares to close for the night...

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