South Africa’s government has said that more people should follow the lead of a white man filmed, in a video that has since gone viral, having an argument where he condemns an alleged racist incident.
The video shows him confronting the owners of a Cape Town bar for allegedly barring his Black friend.
The government statement, issued on Tuesday, emphatically condemned “the racist incident that took place when 25-year-old Thabiso Danca was barred from entering Hank’s Olde Irish pub, in Cape Town, because he was a black person and without a white escort”.
The video, which has now racked up hundreds and thousands of views, began circulating last Friday. It shows Mr Danca’s friend, Christopher Logan, going to the bar to confront one of the owners over the alleged discrimination.
Hank’s Olde Irish / Love Thy Neighbour turning people of colour away if they aren’t “accompanied by a white person”??? Surprise, surprise another racist watering hole… @CapeTimesSA @mailandguardian pic.twitter.com/nvRhzlcgep
— nathannnnn (@Natenoged) December 3, 2022
He tells the owner that a bouncer said to his friend: “You can’t come in here, unaccompanied, without a white person.”
The owner responded by saying that there has never been an incident in all 18 years of trading.
The bar has since released a statement denying any accusation of racism, with a sign outside their establishment making it clear that they were not discriminatory.
“We want to state categorically that in the past 30 years of operating businesses in Cape Town, we, as the owners, have never, nor have we ever instructed our staff, to discriminate on any basis whatsoever, whether that be gender, sexual orientation or race,” the sign reads.
South Africa’s government has called for an investigation “to probe the incident with speed and to ensure that justice is served”.
It also “calls on all South Africans to follow Logan’s lead and take a stand against racism”.
