Union joins debacle, but Spur stands firm

SPUR chief executive Pierre van Tonder accused Solidarity of trying to score political points yesterday after the union’s chief executive penned an open letter saying he had lost his appetite for the restaurant franchise.

Spur restaurants have faced a backlash from Afrikaans customers who have boycotted certain restaurants in protest against the way a confrontation – between a white man and a black woman – was handled.

The man was caught on video threatening to give the woman a “p**s klap” during an argument over their children’s behaviour at the Texamo Spur at the Glen Shopping Mall in Gauteng in March.

He was subsequently banned from all Spur restaurants.

Solidarity chief executive Dirk Hermann‚ in a letter to Spur chief operations officer Mark Farrelly‚ said loyal white customers were tired of being bullied and portrayed as conservative right-wingers.

“I am not boycotting Spur. A boycott is too small as if this is just an isolated Spur incident that deserves a slap on the wrist from the public,” Hermann wrote.

“Spur you messed up. Say you are sorry about it.”

But Van Tonder replied‚ saying the boycott appeared to have a specific political agenda.

“I am surprised to see a trade union leader implicitly calling for a boycott and embracing an uninformed narrative without considering the effect such a boycott will have,” he wrote.

He said the franchise stood by its decision and would not give into pressure by “an angry mob who chose to interpret our decision in terms of race”.