Cape Town – A Samora Machel man says he fears returning to work at the Woodstock apartment block where former Springbok hooker James Dalton allegedly assaulted him and called him a "monkey".
Simphiwe Mntunani, 34, who works as a security guard at the building where Dalton resides, was allegedly threatened and head-butted last Monday for looking at his phone while on duty.
He has since opened a case at the Woodstock police station and the video of the incident has been shared multiple times on social media.
Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk said they were investigating a common assault case but no arrests have yet been made.
Attempts to reach Dalton yesterday were unsuccessful.
“Around 2am or 3am he came inside the building after parking his car. I was sitting at the reception area and on my phone. When I lifted up my head he was standing in front of me looking at the phone and started yelling.
"He said, ‘no wonder his car was broken into last June’. I was busy on my phone instead of watching cameras,” said Mntunani.
Mntunani added he was only employed at the building in July.
“He didn’t even give me a chance to explain anything and said that black securities don’t know their jobs. I told him we are not employed by him and he must get white securities if we are failing.
"That’s when he came close and head-butted me unexpectedly and told me he was rich, well connected and there was nothing I could do,” he said.
Mntunani said he told Dalton he was disappointed in his behaviour because many teenagers looked up to him.
“He walked away still swearing at me and before the lift doors closed he said you ‘f***ing black monkey’.
“I will be off on Monday and I don’t know if I will be able to work on Tuesday. Luckily he did not injure me but I’m a bit scared he will harass me after opening the case against him on Saturday,” he said.
Dalton, known as “Bullet”, played for the Boks from 1994 to 2002. He was part of the 1995 World Cup-winning squad, although he only played in a pool game against Canada before he was suspended for the rest of the tournament.
In 2017, he was arrested in Sea Point and charged with assault, reckless or negligent driving, crimen injuria and resisting arrest.
The EFF in the Western Cape expressed outrage and threw their support behind Mntunani.
“The EFF calls for the immediate arrest of Dalton for crimen injuria and assaulting Mntunani. We also call on Dalton to be fully investigated for not keeping a social distance when addressing Mntunani at the time when the government has been calling for social distance between individuals and groups to prevent the spread of Covid-19 virus.”