Restaurant where worker was burned with water closed

The Rodizio Brazilian Restaurant in Fourways was closed on Thursday – on the very day that the public learned that the man running the restaurant had allegedly poured boiling water on one of his employees. 

TimesLIVE visited the restaurant in Leaping Frog Shopping Centre in Fourways and discovered it had been closed.

The man in charge of the restaurant informed his workers not to report for duty on Thursday.

“He called us and told us the restaurant is closed for today because some people will come and burn it down‚” one of the workers told TimesLIVE.

But what actually happened is that the Economic Freedom Fighters in Johannesburg put pictures on its Twitter account of Fortune Moyo who was the victim in the incident.

Moyo says he is still perplexed why‚ on an ordinary day at work last month‚ his boss allegedly had a tantrum and poured boiling water on him for eating some leftover sauce from an oxtail stew intended for customers.

Moyo‚ 20‚ of Diepsloot‚ Johannesburg‚ reported for duty as usual at the restaurant on March 18‚ where he works as a cleaner.

His boss had bought bread for the staff.

But after such a good act of kindness‚ Moyo said‚ his boss revealed his mood was sour.

“He said that he is going to kill one person today‚” Moyo alleged.

Moyo had been working at the restaurant since he was 16.

“My colleague had cooked oxtail in one pot and then poured the stew into another pot that would be used to serve the customers. But the one which had been used to cook the oxtail had some sauce left in it. One of the guys who works at the back came to fetch the pot to clean it‚” he said.

Some of the staff also boiled water so that they could make tea to serve with it.

Moyo went to the pot in which the oxtail was cooked‚ mixed the sauce with some leftover spaghetti he had saved from the day before.

While he was doing this‚ his boss was observing him on the restaurant's cameras.

The boss then came to them and asked why they were eating his oxtail.

“I explained to him that it was not the oxtail but some sauce that was left in the pot. He then asked who gave this to me and I explained. He called the chef‚ also asking him why he had given the staff his oxtail. The chef also told him that it was not the case.

“He then started swearing‚ shouting at everyone‚" Moyo alleged. "He then started to be rude‚ questioning why I had not eaten the spaghetti yesterday. He became angry and simply grabbed the kettle with boiling water and threw it on me and I got seriously burned.

"Three of my colleagues were also burned but I got serious burns because I was close. He then started going crazy‚ smashing the cups that people were going to use to drink tea‚” said Moyo.

Moyo suffered burns on his chest‚ arm‚ stomach and a small part of his face. Moyo’s mother also worked at the same restaurant for years before leaving for greener pastures.

Police have confirmed a case has been opened.

Sergeant Mpho More said Douglasdale police were investigating a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

“The complainant told him that there is only water inside the pot. The suspect pushed the complainant and poured him with boiling water on his chest. He sustained injuries on his chest‚” said More.

The suspect‚ aged 55‚ appeared in court on March 26. The case resumes in May.