Dad banned from Spur
Spur Steak Ranches yesterday banned a white male customer from all its chain restaurants after he was involved in a altercation with a black female patron at one of its restaurants in Johannesburg.
The heated exchange, which included profanities, in front of small children happened at Texamo Spur at The Glen Shopping Mall, south of Johannesburg, on Sunday. The incident was captured on video and has since gone viral on social media.
In a statement yesterday, Spur said it was “very disappointed” that children were exposed to “this type of behaviour” and assured the public and its customers it would not be taking the incident lightly.
“The man in the video is not welcome at any Spur restaurant nationally. We do not condone any forms of violence against women or children, irrespective of the circumstances,” Spur said.
The female patron, who is a nurse employed by the City of Joburg, posted a video of the altercation on Facebook. She said she was disappointed how the restaurant staff and management handled the incident.
She was having a meal with her family and several children at the restaurant when the incident occurred.
They were celebrating the birthday of one of the children.
In the video, a man is seen approaching the woman’s table and can be heard hurling insults. He accuses her child of hitting his daughter. She stands up and a verbal exchange ensued.
The white male threatens to “klap” her if she did not discipline her child. He appears to be restrained by his partner. They head for the exit but suddenly the man turns back, grabs and lifts the table, causing plates to fall to the ground.
Other patrons step in and calm the man down until he leaves.
“And this was suppose to be a birthday lunch for a three-yearold … and this is what transpired at The Glen Spur … Disappointed with the spur staff and manager,” posted the woman.
Spur said it had investigated the incident after being alerted to the video.
“Upon viewing the video content that’s been circulated on social media, we are shocked at the adults for behaving in the manner they did, especially with so many children around. As a family restaurant, Spur does not condone this type of behaviour,” Spur said.
“We have investigated the incident with Texamo Spur staff and management, who expressed that they did in fact try to intervene, but were pushed away numerous times by the angry male customer. As soon as the incident escalated, Texamo Spur staff notified The Glen Shopping Mall security.”
The video of the incident has caused an outpouring of anger on Twitter and Facebook, with people wanting Spur to name and shame the offending white male. – ANA