Pretoria - After becoming the butt of ire among social media users this week, a Pretoria restaurant reveller has been exonerated of accusations and reports that he left a R10 000 bill unpaid.
Sekujwane Mofokeng became the most hated by social media users when allegations were made that he left a waitress responsible for a bill of at R10 000 when he went for drinks at Habanero Shisanyama in Menlyn.
His picture was circulated alongside the receipt he was accused of leaving behind after a night out with his friends.
In the post, that was created by Aiden Chaggie (@tinaachaggie), a friend of the waitress identified as Olwethu, Mofokeng was labelled a thug who must be exposed and found to come and pay the bill that forced the employee to use her savings, meant for her daughter, to settle the bill.
The post was shared by popular accounts across social media, and this saw Mofokeng lambasted and called all kinds of names.
But, the restaurant has since described it all as a misunderstanding by manager Kim Maphetho, saying Mofokeng settled his bill.
Maphetho said the patron was out having fun with 10 other people, and he actually paid R5 000 of the R10 000 bill before leaving his friends there.
A female friend paid R1 500 and on that day that was the last payment Olwethu received. As such, the allegations against Mofokeng didn’t come from the business, as that would be an irregular way of locating someone and making them pay their bill.
He said those who created the post were malicious and sensational in that they omitted the facts in order to make the story more dramatic. He added that these social media people were not journalists, so and so did not fact-check and weren’t accountable to anybody.
Mofokeng was not a thug but a Habanero customer like any other customer. He came back nine days later for a meeting with management and the waitress when the story broke, to clarify everything and sort it out.
The bill in question included 44 Corona Carveza, R1980; 2 Habaz Hooker, R700; 1 The Whole Thang for 4, R996; 7 Hennessy VS Dbl, R686; 7 Habanero Virgin, R840; 32 Ice Tropez R3200 and other smaller cost items.
Maphetho informed Pretoria News that social media was not the go-to platform to expose and bust customers who ran from their bills after ordering meals and drinks at Habanero Menlyn.
Although some restaurants and nightclubs employed this strategy to avoid having waiters and waitresses responsible for settling high bills after failing to keep track of the “moreki” (spendthrift), Maphetho said that was actually illegal.
Maphetho said they have had real instances where clients ran from their bills, but they knew it was part of the business and a bill that would be settled by the business.
He said posting people's information on social media wouldn’t only be illegal, but it could put their lives in danger of being attacked by a third party.
Pretoria News