Cape Town – A South African living and teaching in Saudi Arabia has reported an Airbnb vendor to the online portal after allegedly being discriminated against.
Ziyaad Esack posted the exchange between himself and the vendor, identified as Steven on Facebook, where he queries the availability of a Camps Bay property.
The vendor responds to Esack that “his friends” trashed his property the year before. Esack questioned how he could make such an assumption, to which Steven responded: “Hi, it is very strange for me, that you would like the apartment for similar dates as your friends last year.
"Why do you want to stay in Cape Town for so long during winter? It’s freezing here then.
“Are you going to learn English here? There were a lot of Mohammeds. I can’t remember every name as there were 10 of them last year and they stayed last year.”
Esack said: “I consider this person ignorant and would not want to label them as anything further. I have reported him to Airbnb and I hope they can provide me with an actual outcome so I know that something has actually been done and to what extent. I’m not a malicious person and don’t wish hardship on the next.
Airbnb had responded to Esack that it was investigating his complaint, which could result in a warning, suspension or removal of the host’s account – but for privacy reasons, the outcome would not be shared.
Steven said Esack was blowing things out of proportion and hiding behind the “racist card”.
“Ziyaad is not a South African any more. He left here to go live and work in Saudi Arabia, so he has no right to contact a newspaper to claim lies against me, in a county he no longer lives in.
“Last year, we had 10 Saudi Arabians staying in our house and they trashed the place. I just merely informed Ziyaad, that I will not be hosting him.”
Airbnb did not respond by the time of publishing.