WATCH | ‘He must take responsibility for his actions,’ says waiter racially insulted by customer at Midvaal bar

A Midvaal man has infuriated a community after accosting staff at a local eatery, allegedly uttering racial slurs, slapping a manager and threatening staff with a knife he took from the kitchen.

Waiter Leonard Mbhele, who was called the k-word in a video that surfaced on Wednesday, said his dignity was stripped and he wants to press charges.

“I was belittled. Imagine being called the k-word?” he said.

The incident caught on camera took place last Monday and was the second time in days the patron had tried to cause havoc at the Irish Harp Restaurant and Pub in Meyerton.

Pub owner Louw Botes said they learned the man allegedly had a documented psychiatric problem. 

“I phoned the police. They handled the situation and they found out he was certified as mentally ill. They called an ambulance [paramedics] to inject him.”

He said the man was taken to a mental institution in Sebokeng for treatment.

Botes said the man had arrived in an agitated state, breaking ashtrays and glasses. He grabbed a knife from the pub’s kitchen and chased one of the waiters outside, threatening to stab him.

Mbhele, who was on the receiving end of the threat, said he learnt the man was also at the bar the previous Sunday, insulting other staff members and black customers.

“The customer came back again on Monday and did the same thing. When he came in he said, ‘Are you going to give me good service or must I start f***ing this place again?’ — meaning he knew what he did a day before,” said Mbhele, a father of three.

“I had to serve him [at the bar]. He was calling me k***ir and was doing it to every black person,” he said.

He alleged the man also uttered racial slurs at one of his colleagues, Nigel Ndlovu. 

“He chased him and when he walked back, he came back straight to me with the knife and he said I must come to him, saying ‘I am your god’ — and that’s when it all started,” he said.

Ndlovu said when the man started swearing and uttering racial slurs, he ran outside the establishment.

“He said ‘you f**k’ and ‘k***ir’. I ran outside,” said Ndlovu.

After cooling off, he returned to the bar to see Mbhele being accosted by the customer.

Mbhele said the man took a beer from the fridge and started to chase him.

“He tried to throw it at me.”

He fled outdoors.

Mbhele said he rebuked the man and told him to stop using the k-word.

“He pushed me and I fell. Everyone was trying to stop him,” Mbhele said.

“I was protecting myself. I told him, ‘If you continue to do this and call me a k***ir, I am seriously going to hurt you. I didn’t want to do that but when I fell he was grabbing me by the leg and pulling me around and he came back and called everyone k***ir,” Mbhele said.

Mbhele said his state of mind has been affected by the incident.

“It’s a trauma and sometimes when I see a white person who looks like him I say, 'There he comes again’ — only to realise it is not him,” he said.

He said he tried to open a case at the police station in Sebokeng, close to where he stays, but police told him he needed to open the case in the precinct where the incident occurred.

Mbhele said he intends to press charges.

“I want this trauma to end, I want that guy to be brought to justice. I need closure. The thing I need is not to teach him a lesson, but to make sure he takes responsibility for his actions.”

Botes, who said the customer had been barred from drinking at his establishment, said:  “We tried our best and calmed people outside and it was fine in the end. The incident had nothing to do with the establishment. It was something out of our control.

“It is someone who came in [and started trouble]. He [also] slapped a manager. I told my employees to open a case. It is up to them. If he [Mbhele] wants to open the case, I will back him.”

His son Albert, who is a partner in the business, condemned the incident in a statement. He said the person was not a regular customer.

“He is mentally ill and we immediately got police, security and an ambulance on the scene. He was injected and apprehended and is now in a psychiatric institution,” he said.

The chairperson of the ANC Midvaal sub-regional committee Mpumelelo Mtimkulu said: “We will discharge all resources available to ensure the racist is brought to book.”

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.