THE man who was allegedly barred from entering an upmarket bar and restaurant in Cape Town said he is suffering from bouts of depression, adding he felt “stripped of my humanity”.
Beach lifeguard and father-of-one Thabiso Danca, 25, made headlines after a bouncer at Hank's Olde Irish pub reportedly told him to “hamba kahle” until he is able to return with a white counterpart to gain entry to the establishment.
“I’m depressed, I’m emotionally drained,” a sobbing Danca told Weekend Argus yesterday.
“I was stripped of my humanity. It affected my morale and consumed my way of thinking,” said Danca while replaying the dramatic incident in his head.
“I am sorry for coming across emotional but the shock is kicking in.”
A video in which a friend of Danca, Christopher Logan, confronted one of the owners of the establishment went viral on social media this week.
The widely circulated video riled the EFF and numerous other groups enough to stage a demonstration outside the pub this week.
This forced the establishment to temporarily close its doors. The owners of the bar as well as Danca and Logan have filed criminal complaints with the police against one another.
However, the video does not depict any assault.
In the video, Logan can be heard calling out the owners for denying people access to their establishment on the basis of their race.
“It is a crime. Do you know where you live? You live in South Africa where we have a deep and painful history,” he says.
The owner insists in the video that he have never received such a complaint before.
Danca said he decided to speak out about his experience as he did not want the same to happen to his seven-month-old baby girl.
“I don’t want her to one day experience the same thing I did,” said Danca.
“I’m still grappling to come with the terms as to what exactly happened ... the bouncer said black people only steal and kill, it’s harsh words and it caused a lot of pain.”
EFF Western Cape in the meantime called for the pub’s trading license to be revoked.
“Their right of admission policy should also be revisited,” said spokesperson Wandile Kasibe.
“We would also support any professional counselling support extended to the victim of this racist act. Last but not least we call for all the residents of the Western Cape to stand against racism,” said Kasibe.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said it would request a review of the Reserved Right of Admission Policy.
“As the commission, we are saying it is disgraceful from the side of the owners and everyone else who might have given those alleged instructions to the bouncer,” said commissioner Chris Nissen.
“That bouncer could not have acted on his own, but acted due to instructions. We live in a democratic South Africa where public spaces must be open to everyone.”
Nissen rubbished statements by other establishment owners who came to the defence of the pub owners, claiming “the right of admission” at privately owned establishments was reserved by the owner.
Cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams said: “It is horrifying and outrageous that the tendencies of apartheid South Africa keeps rearing its ugly head.”
Danca’s lawyer, Ashley Vuyo Leeuw, said it was still unclear when the cases would be brought to court.
The pub owner’s legal representative, William Booth, also said investigations were still under way.
“The matter is under investigation as cases have been laid by my clients, the owners, and we do not wish to comment at this stage as we do not believe the matter should be ventilated in the media or on social media, certainly not at this time,” he said.
Weekend Argus.