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By Daniel Friedman

Digital news editor


Twitter investigators make k-word holiday goer famous

The man who casually used the k-word on an oversees beach holiday has been identified as Adam Catzavelos, co-owner of St George's Fine Foods.


The man whose racist holiday video went viral on Tuesday has been identified as Adam Catzavelos, co-owner of St George’s Fine Foods, a company specialising in sauces, marinades and salad dressings. The company was started by Catzavelos’s father.

They reportedly provide a wide range of restaurant chains and businesses with their products, including The Baron, Butcher Boys, The Butcher Shop & Grill, Braza and Rib Zone.

https://twitter.com/HlomlaDandala/status/1031994542541688834

Angry Twitter users have called on the businesses to cease using St George’s Fine Foods products, and called on South Africans to boycott the brands if they fail to do so.

Those on Twitter also claim to have identified Catzavelos’s wife, and say she works for Nike.

READ MORE: Twitter hunts for racist beach-goer caught on video casually using the k-word

Catzavelos was featured on Talk Radio 702’s Nedbank Business Accelerator program in 2014. Both 702 and Nedbank have both condemned the video.

One Twitter user has also connected Catzavelos to Smoke House and Grill Fourways, where he is allegedly a director.

One Twitter user even claims to have found his phone number. When called, the number was off and its mail box was full.

The video shows Catzavelos on an oversees holiday.

“I’m going to give you a weather forecast,” he says, before extolling his pleasure at spending the day amid “blue skies, beautiful day, amazing sea and not one k****r in sight”

“You cannot beat this,” he continued.

The video was apparently first posted on a private WhatsApp group, and was circulated by a member of the group offended by its content.

The video has seen Catzavelos trending on Twitter, and it is likely that his name will become associated with racism in the same way that Penny Sparrow and Vicki Momberg are.

Sparrow called black Durban beach-goers monkeys in a Facebook rant, and Vicki Momberg used the k-word 48 times when dealing with a black policeman who was trying to help her after a smash-and-grab incident.

Momberg was sentenced to an effective two years for crimen injuria due to the incident, but she has since been granted both leave to appeal her sentence and bail.

https://twitter.com/Msomifaya/status/1032162089538871296

Since scathing media reports emerged regarding the racist video, Adam has since been fired from the family business with immediate effect, EWN reports.

The family released a statement on Wednesday morning, expressing their disgust and their wish to distance themselves from Adam’s racist sentiments. The statement also said that the business has been temporarily closed to protect its staff.

“It is abhorrent and we fully disassociate ourselves from the sentiments expressed. We reject racism in any form. Adam Catzavelos has been dismissed with immediate effect from the family business, St George’s Fine Foods, and his minority shareholding will be unwound as soon as practically possible. Given the high-profile nature of this development, the business has been temporarily closed for the protection of all its staff. We have no further comment at this stage.”

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