A Johannesberg woman has opened a case of intimidation against a man who allegedly set his dog on her at a pub because, he said, she had no right to be there because she was black.

While Phumelele Makelo, 35, was waiting for her two friends outside Maty's Pub and Grill in Weltevreden Park, she saw a group of white men in the restaurant staring at her. "One man whispered something to the dog while staring at me and then it charged, biting me on my foot," said Makelo. "When I told him that his dog had bitten me, he asked me, 'What is a black b**** doing in my pub anyway?' which completely shocked me.

"He then put his gun on the table, obviously as some sort of scare tactic. If he had just apologised, I would have understood, but to throw racial slurs around is completely unnecessary."

Makelo had to leave her car in the parking lot because she was unable to drive. The next day she told the owner of the pub, who is the man's sister, about the incident.

"She just said she had heard about it and asked me what I was doing there in the first place."

The Honeydew Police Station confirmed that a charge had been laid. Inspector Kim Cloete said: "We will conduct our investigation and gather all statements. The court will decide whether or not to prosecute and if so, what the sentence will be."