Spur apologises for its response to racist spat

A screen grab of an argument that broke out between parents at the Texamo Spur in Johannesburg last month. The Spur group has apologised for its response to the incident.

A screen grab of an argument that broke out between parents at the Texamo Spur in Johannesburg last month. The Spur group has apologised for its response to the incident.

Published Apr 27, 2017

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Johannesburg – A month after the widely publicised incident at Texamo Spur in The Glen Shopping Centre in Johannesburg, the Spur group has issued an apology on Freedom Day.

In the incident, an apparent scuffle between children in the play area led to an explosive, racially charged and expletive laden argument between their parents that nearly ended in a brawl. The incident, filmed on social media, went viral. The man was subsequently banned from Spur steakhouses.

In a statement the group said would like to apologise unreservedly to the South African public. "Our response fell short of our own high standards. We should have done better. We expect it from ourselves to do better and we believe that the South African public deserve better."

Spur said with the wisdom of hindsight, it had embarked on a course of action to address the shortcomings in its response.

The group would also convene a panel to draft guidelines for an in-depth investigation into all aspects of the incident on March 19 and how it was handled.

The panel will be independent and have full access to all facts and footage surrounding the event. It will be chaired by Prof Elmien du Plessis of the Faculty of Law at North-West University who is also a member of the university's Human Rights Committee and an alumnus of the South African Research Chair in Property Law.

The team will make recommendations to Spur on actions that should be taken to rectify the shortcomings in its response and to improve its reaction to similar incidents in future.

The group said regardless of the recommendations of the panel, it had taken some immediate steps. This included an increase in the child-minder to child ratio in its Play Canyons during busy periods. It had also launched a campaign to refresh and enhance the procedures and skills of its minders.

"In the month since this incident, we have learned many lessons. We are implementing steps to ensure the safety of customers and personnel at our restaurants. Given the current socio-political climate in our country, regrettably no company can foresee an incident like this happening. After the incident, Spur has already and will continue to move swiftly to provide key personnel with the necessary conflict resolution skills," the statement read.

The Independent on Saturday

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