Restaurant where worker burned with water closed
THE Rodizio Brazilian Restaurant in Fourways was closed yesterday – on the very day that the public learnt that the man running the restaurant had allegedly poured boiling water on one of his employees.
TimesLIVE visited the restaurant in the Leaping Frog Shopping Centre and discovered it had been closed.
The man in charge of the restaurant informed his workers not to report for duty yesterday.
“He called us and told us the restaurant is closed for today because some people will come and burn it down‚” one of the workers said.
But what actually happened is that the EFF in Johannesburg put pictures on its Twitter account of Fortune Moyo who was the victim in the incident.
Moyo says he is still perplexed why‚ on an ordinary day at work last month‚ his boss allegedly had a tantrum and poured boiling water on him for eating some leftover sauce from an oxtail stew intended for customers.
Moyo‚ 20‚ of Diepsloot‚ Johannesburg‚ reported for duty as usual at the restaurant on March 18‚ where he works as a cleaner.
His boss had bought bread for the staff. But after an act of kindness‚ Moyo said‚ his boss revealed his mood was sour.
“He said that he is going to kill one person today‚” Moyo alleged.
“My colleague had cooked oxtail in one pot and then poured the stew into another pot that would be used to serve the customers.
“But the one which had been used to cook the oxtail had some sauce left in it. One of the guys who works at the back came to fetch the pot to clean it‚” he said.
Some of the staff also boiled water to make tea.
Moyo went to the pot in which the oxtail was cooked‚ mixed the sauce with some leftover spaghetti he had saved from the day before. While he was doing this‚ his boss was observing him on the restaurant’s cameras.
The boss then came to them and asked why they were eating his oxtail.
“I explained to him that it was not the oxtail but some sauce that was left in the pot. He then asked who gave this to me and I explained. He called the chef‚ also asking him why he had given the staff his oxtail. The chef also told him it was not the case.
“He then started swearing‚ shouting at everyone‚” Moyo alleged.
“He then started to be rude‚ questioning why I had not eaten the spaghetti yesterday. He became angry and simply grabbed the kettle with boiling water and threw it on me.
“Three of my colleagues were also burned but I got serious burns because I was close.”
He suffered burns on his chest‚ arm‚ stomach and a small part of his face.
Sergeant Mpho More said Douglasdale police were investigating a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The suspect‚ aged 55‚ appeared in court on March 26. The case resumes in May. – TimesLIVE