Mbazwane - As many as 3 000 people protested outside a guest house in Sodwana Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal, where the owner allegedly refuses to take bookings from black people and government employees.
KwaZulu-Natal's economic development and tourism MEC Sihle Zikalala and members of the African National Congress (ANC) protested outside the establishment on Wednesday morning.
A racist email from the guest house went viral and caused and outrage when it was posted on social media last week. In the email guest house owner Andre Slade turned a prospective black client away, saying the establishment no longer accommodated “blacks or government employees”.
On Wednesday there was a heavy police presence at the now infamous Sodwana Bay Guest Lodge. Police kept a close watch on the guest house, where Slade was holed up.
Unapologetic Slade, who stood behind a fence, insisted it was “God's law” to segregate people by race.
At a press conference in Mbazwane's newly built library facility, Zikalala said that a compliant of discrimination, tax evasion and hate speech against Slade had been made at the local police station.
Zikalala has also called for Slade to be evicted from the land on which the guest house operates.
Zikalala said Slade had obtained permission from local chiefs to use the land on condition that, he employed locals.
However, he never informed the chiefs that he would be operating a guest house from the premises.
African News Agency