A conscientious South African found himself on the wrong side of the weights section at his local gym this week when he was almost assaulted by two fellow members. And all because he allegedly asked the gym receptionist why some members were allowed into the facility without masks.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, is a medical doctor and has now laid a charge of intimidation at the Boksburg North police station. According to the man, this is the second time he was involved in an exchange of words with fellow gym members and the management of the club over the same mask issue. After the first altercation, he claimed his gym membership was revoked for a month.
The drama unfolded at the Sport Edge Gym in Boksburg West in the early hours of Thursday morning. The gym is located on the property of Hoërskool Dr. E.G. Jansen.
“I arrived at the gym at about 05H15. There were about seven of us and I was the only person wearing a mask. Some of the other people were working out quite close to each other. I simply asked the receptionist why people were allowed in without their masks,” said the doctor.
According to the Covid-19 rules for gyms, members are allowed not to wear masks if they are doing rigorous exercises but they have to be at least two meters apart.
The man claimed that there was no social distancing between some members. Sport Edge manager, Michelle Venter, said all measures are in place to protect their members from contracting the coronavirus.
“We have sanitisers, we have scanners and nobody is allowed in if they have a fever or anything. It’s not a rule that you must wear a mask. We have had an incident with this gentleman before and his membership was revoked for one month,” said Venter.
The school’s principal, where the gym is situated, said he was on holiday in Pretoria and would not comment on the incident. According to the doctor, his morning exercises went squat when the receptionist allegedly pointed him out to the other members as the person “complaining” about people not wearing their masks and adequate social distancing.
“This father and son came towards me and moved to attack me but my quick-thinking avoided a full-on assault. It took me a month to regain my confidence to return to the gym after the last episode and now this has happened again. The receptionist even told the security guard to take down my registration number and to never allow me on the premises again,” said the man.
Venter, who was asleep at the time of the incident, said video footage showed that the doctor was “abusive”. When Saturday Star asked to view the footage, Venter denied that request.
She said the suspension of the doctor’s membership was because of outstanding fees but the man provided Saturday Star with proof that his payments are in fact in credit. Venter also did not reply to questions about whether payments were suspended during the lockdown period as members were unable to attend the facility.
At the start of lockdown, Gauteng police shared contact details for any public complaints of non-compliance. Brigadier Chester Spiers said when a complaint is received, a team is dispatched to the facility to investigate and to ensure that the facility adheres to the Covid-19 protocols. But this may be of little joy to the good doctor who now finds himself barred from his local gym.