Cape Town - The government has condemned the racist incident that took place at a Hank's Olde Irish Pub in Cape Town , while it has also applauded Christopher Logan for coming to the defence of his friend, Thabiso Danca.
This comes after Danca, a black patron, was denied entry from Hank's Olde Irish Pub in Cape Town. He was apparently told he had to be accompanied by a white person.
In images which surfaced on social media on Tuesday, Logan, the white man who is friend’s with the victim, was seen bloodied and bruised after a brawl took place at the pub when he confronted them on the following day after the incident.
This apparently came after Logan went to the pub to confront the owners and recorded the incident on video before it went viral on social media.
He appeared to have been assaulted during a scuffle with pub staff and owners.
A picture of Logan with a bloodied face is making the rounds on social media.
Logan confirmed to IOL that he had opened a case of assault against the pub staff with police.
Police in the Western Cape have confirmed the charges, while Danca is understood to have filed crimen injuria charges.
“He has filed a racism case and will also be filing a charge at the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
In a statement, government spokesperson and GCIS director-general, Phumla Wiliams, said that it was horrifying and outrageous that the tendencies of apartheid South Africa keeps rearing its ugly head.
“As a country, we are working hard to deal with crucial challenges such as the huge inequality gap, a legacy of the past, which is also a contributing factor to racism.
“The eradication of racism can only happen on a human to human level, and when we recognise and accept that we have more in common that unites us than which divides us. Government also compliments Danca’s friend, Christopher Logan, who came to the defence of his friend,” Williams added.
Logan initially confirmed on Monday that he was allegedly assaulted by the owners of the Cape Town pub.
The owners assaulted the guy #hanksoldeirish @IOL @News24 @lebomashile @EFFSouthAfrica @TimesLIVE @Abramjee pic.twitter.com/rx70ZY4lcX
— jarreddoyle (@jarreddoyle13) December 6, 2022
The owners said they would pursue legal action as a result of the racism accusation.
They also said they had never issued any instruction to staff to disallow patrons entrance on the basis of race or gender discrimination in their 30 years of service.
“We owners want to state categorically that in the past 30 years of operating businesses in Cape Town, we as the owners never – nor have we ever instructed our staff – to discriminate on any basis whatsoever, whether that be gender, sexual orientation, or race.
“We want to place on record that we are extremely concerned for the well-being and safety of the staff involved, therefore we will not be commenting any further while we conduct an internal disciplinary process about these allegations and the police conduct their criminal investigation on the case of assault opened against the individuals making accusations on the video,” they said.
In an interview with CapeTalk on Monday, Logan said the pub’s response did not make sense as the owner had insisted when he confronted them that they reserved the right of admission
“I said to them right of admission is not a policy you can implement on the basis of race or on the basis of who you admit and who you don’t.
“I continued to use use that line and another bouncer articulated to both Jordan and Thabiso that the reason he couldn’t let them in was because the owners had instructed them to do that,” he said.
IOL