away from the buzz of south africas largest and wealthiest city generations of portuguese diners have gathered in one storied restaurant in search of a rare and simple pleasure  the taste of home its unclear whether portugals president marcelo rebelo de sousa in south africa on tuesday for his annual international trip marking portuguese national day will visit the johannesburg taberna a mainstay of the local lusophone community but his visit comes at a time when the countrys portuguese population is at a crossroads buffeted by the same crime and economic issues as other south africans and drawn to portugal by the promise of an eu passport the familyowned restaurante parreirinha has served the portuguese community for at least three generations said gloria da cunha 54 who now heads the restaurant with her siblings having taken over from her father and uncle who came to south africa in the late 1960s halfamillion south africans of portuguese descent live in the country as well as 200000 portuguese citizens the government says the portuguese dribbled in from the late 1800s all the way to the 1950s clive glaser a history professor at the university of the witwatersrand told afp coming in three separate waves the first group of portuguese migrants were madeirans who hopped on a boat in the hopes that they could get opportunities glaser told afp the second is the group to which da cunhas parents belonged  skilled portuguese migrants from the mainland and in 1975 mozambique and angolas independence from portugal created the third wave the lusophones are the third largest group of white south africans after the afrikaners descendants of the dutch and french huguenots  and englishspeaking descendants of british settlers glaser said although the community is vast  the largest on the continent  it is also very discreet we are a very lowkey community manny ferreirinha who chairs the portuguese forum of south africa told afp during the caravela portuguese festival held in johannesburg last weekend hundreds of portuguese families gathered to celebrate portuguese and madeiran heritage ahead of portugal day on june 10 the musicfilled festival boasted traditional dishes and treats such as pasteis de nata and travesseiros de sintra a puff pastry ferreirinha said the forum was created to foster unity among portuguese in south africa and in response to the countrys changing economy and growing social issues it acts as a way of advocating for the communitys safety as well as providing business opportunities many festivalgoers afp spoke to expressed concern over the economic and social woes that have plagued africas most industrialised economy some are even considering migrating to portugal back in the restaurant where 5000 neckties collected over four decades hang from the ceiling restaurant head da cunha is thinking about relocating to another part of the city due to power cuts and rising crime rates the region where the portuguese community is largely concentrated has seen steady degradation in recent years forcing many families to move away a lot of our customers dont want to come here anymore out of fear said da cunha its a sad situation i grew up here this building has a story its got memories the portuguese population is gradually declining in south africa according to glaser with some families starting to slowly return to portugal after it joined the european union in 1986 which made the countrys passport more attractive but for 68yearold south africaborn ferreirinha a champion of portuguese culture in the country leaving is not an option he will never leave home he said