British Airways buckles under pressure, apologises to Black Motion over alleged racist incident

The award-winning music duo slammed the airline this week for racially profiling them.

Thabo ‘Smol’ Mabogwane and Bongani ‘Murdah’ Mohosana were seated in business class on a flight on Monday when an air hostess asked them to move to economy class.

According to the group, the hostess made the request as “a white woman’s seat was broken, and she needed to move”.

When questioned why they were being singled out, they were told that their seats were “worth less”.

“Black Motion happened to be the only two young black men in the British Airways business class… we are the victims of bad treatment. We were embarrassed and removed from business class just because a white lady complained about her broken seat,’ Smol said on Instagram.

The group’s road manager Nicky Seema, who was in economy at the time, also questioned why they were being moved. The air hostess apparently informed the pilot that they were being “aggressive” and in order to avoid a “911” call he decided to have them removed from the plane.

Black Motion’s manager Tshiamo Kodisang described the incident as “blatant racism”.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE, Comair’s Shaun Pozyn said they had a “conversation with the customers and have apologised for what happened.”

He added that Comair does not tolerate any form of racism or discrimination, and takes the allegation of racism seriously.

“We are now interviewing the staff involved as part of a full investigation. Once concluded we will take whatever action is necessary.”

Meanwhile, Black Motion is reportedly seeking legal advice over the incident.

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