Jan Braai, a master braaier, and Food Lover’s Market, a shop, have refuted charges of racism following an incident at Willowbridge Shopping Centre in Tyger Valley on Saturday.
This comes after Jan Braai, real name Jan Scannell, allegedly exclusively gave out free kerriewors rolls to white buyers while ignoring clients of color.
Jan Braai’s video of a coloured man waiting for Jan Braai to greet him went popular on social media and was later deleted by Food Lover’s Market.
In a joint statement, Food Lover’s Market and Jan Braai stated that they were aware of allegations that only some customers received the boerewors rolls, but that the allegations were false.
“We had a wonderful day out at our Willowbridge location, offering customers a taste of Jan Braai Kerriewors.
“Shoppers from all walks of life had a great time sampling delicious free boeries.”
“We are aware of allegations making the rounds that only selected shoppers received boerewors rolls.””This is simply not true.”This accusation is based on an unfair interpretation of a single film, which was a brief snapshot of the day. Anyone who was present would find the accusation ludicrous.
“We withdrew the original video because it did not accurately depict the day’s success and inclusivity.
“We’ve replaced it with a fresh video. For the record, we deny that any shoppers were singled out and can joyfully affirm that boeries were distributed to everybody. We can further certify that Jan Braai Kerriewors was a huge success with both young and old.”
Among the scores of social media users who spoke out against the video was National Coloured Congress (NCC) public relations councillor Anastatia Stacy Davids, who said: “Whether individuals wish to shy away from this occurrence, a lot may be read into Jan Braai’s behavior.
“Some of them try to do it in a subtle and inadvertent manner. But I’m pleased I was able to screen-record it before he removed it, because many people were already reacting in disgust. Why remove the video if he was not guilty of anything?
“We do not condone this attitude and will continue to speak up for the voiceless. “We will not tolerate microaggressions against people of colour in this country,” Davids stated.
Mavis Vannie Lavis commented on Facebook, “It’s not right that our coloured people are excluded from Jan Braai and Food Lover’s promotions.”
Claude Mullins stated, “Jan Braai is anti-Heritage Day.” People, braai your own sausage. Leave it and assist our own people, guy.
The Western Cape’s opposition leader, the ANC’s Khalid Sayed, said the party took note of the charge against Jan Braai.
“We are deeply worried if these allegations are accurate that only white diners or customers were served rolls.
“Despite this, our primary concern is the prevalence of racism in the Western Cape.
“We repeat our calls that we’ve made to the premier of the Western Cape to convene a constructive dialogue with all stakeholders, with civil society, political formations, religious leaders, and everybody regarding the dangers of racism so that we can get the cancer of racism out of our system in the Western Cape,” Sayed told the media.
