A disturbing video of a White man threatening a Black woman with violence inside a South African restaurant has gone viral, with some people reading racism in the whole fiasco.
The incident, which happened at Spur, a popular restaurant in Johannesburg, South Africa’s capital, is alleged to have started when the man accused one of the woman’s children of bullying his child.
In the video, the woman can be seen bitterly retorting that the man’s child was the one who bullied her child, to which the man responds by threatening to hit the woman.
“Look here, you can’t come here and be a bully. Such a big man being a bully,” the woman complains.
The man replies, “Is that so? I’m telling you to do something.” Then when the woman insists on calling him a bully, he lifts his hand and threatens to hit her. At some point, the man tries to overturn the table, where the woman and her children are seated.
Some customers and restaurant attendants can be seen intervening until the man agrees to leave the restaurant.
Racism Debate
The video has aroused accusations of racism in the rainbow nation, with some accusing the White man of disrespecting the woman and her children because they are Black:
No mother will stay calm after a HUGE aggressive man threatens and assaults her children in a family restaurant. #Spur
— Arne (@Arne_Souffle) March 22, 2017
But some people are not happy with the way the incident has been turned into a racial debate, arguing that a stern action should have been taken against the two parents:
Whoever that black man in the stripe was, thank you for being the only one in that restaurant to show us that black women matter #spur
— Panashe Chigumadzi (@panashechig) March 21, 2017
Calls for Boycott
Many people are blaming the restaurant’s management for allowing the incident to continue for so long without intervening. In the video, several waiters are seen watching the heated exchange from a distance.
It takes the intervention of a Black man — likely a customer — to convince the angry White man to leave the restaurant.
@SpurRestaurant #we boycottspur nationwide..i wont set my foot there again plus i liked to go to spur in cresta mall.minus 1 customer.
— BuddyP_SA (@ENOCKMOSANE) March 21, 2017
The restaurant issued a statement Tuesday condemning the incident and apologizing for not taking the appropriate action to stop the altercation:
While we regret the incident, Spur Restaurants cannot be seen to take sides in an argument between private parties. We apologize for our staff not having handled the situation in a professional manner and we will ensure our staff is trained to respond professionally in future.
In an effort to be unbiased, both parties were asked to leave the restaurant.
With the effects of Apartheid still evident in many parts of the country, racism in South Africa continues to be an issue, with the majority Black Africans accusing the minority Whites of bigotry and other forms of racial discrimination.
According to the 2011 census, there are close to 5 million Whites living in South Africa, with the majority being descendants of the European settlers who invaded the country during the colonial era.
