Spur sorry for ‘klap’ incident

Spur Corporation yesterday issued an “unequivocal apology” and offered counselling to Lebohang Mabuya and her family for the incident that took place at the Texamo Spur at The Glen Shopping Centre in Johannesburg on Sunday.

This comes after an incident of two parents involved in an altercation inside a restaurant, captured on cellphone video, went viral on social media on Human Rights Day.

In the footage, Mabuya was seen engaged in a heated exchange with an unidentified white man, who threatened to “klap (smack)” her if she did not discipline her child.

The incident, which included profanities, occurred in front of small children and other patrons during Mabuya’s threeyear-old goddaughter’s birthday party.

According to Mabuya, a nurse by profession, she was defending her child after the man manhandled her, though she said she was not proud of the language she used in front of children.

Spur also went on to ban the male customer from its chain restaurants nationally for his part in the altercation.

In a statement, Spur corroborated Mabuya’s version of events that the white male had been aggressive toward her child.

“We affirm our decision to ban the male customer from our stores, physical aggression toward our customers, particularly against women and children, will not be tolerated,” Spur said.

CEO Pierre van Tonder said they would talk to Mabuya directly, at her convenience, and would apologise for what she and her family experienced.

“We will also offer her and her family trauma counselling and any other support where we can,” Van Tonder said.

“As an organisation, we have learnt a valuable lesson, and it is my priority at this stage to ensure that should something like this happen again, our staff will be sufficiently prepared.” – ANA