Waiter assault: Footage suggests contrasting accounts

CCTV footage from Spur in Westgate Shopping Centre, where an assault allegedly took place on Saturday 19 April, suggests a sequence of events different to that which Avené van Schoor had given.

In an interview with the record on the following Tuesday Avené suggested that her husband was attacked following a confrontation with the restaurant’s child minder. As she stated earlier, “I don’t know what was said but if I understood my husband’s account correctly, a waiter hit him from behind and rushed out of the restaurant”. Avené was shocked by the chaos on Saturday evening – after the alleged assault in the restaurant, all involved ran outside and her husband allegedly was assaulted again by various parties and robbed of his possessions outside the Spur premises.

Unfortunately Westgate Shopping Centre has not given the record access to their CCTV footage of the incident. However, Spur Westgate’s senior partner John Fuller volunteered that the record view CCTV footage taken in his restaurant.

“I will not be able to hand over any copies of the footage as it is under legal review,” said Fuller as he introduced Donovan Dow, the front-of-house senior manager at Spur Westgate. Dow had prepared a full timeline of events and took the record through every minute of the footage.

“Please note that besides the child minder we have in the play area there are television screens in the dining area on which parents can watch live feed of the play area,” Fuller said.

What happened next, Dow and Fuller agreed, is open to interpretation. However, they lean towards the events as told by many of their staff members who had written and signed affidavits about their experience.

“I was not here on Saturday night and cannot comment on the truth or not of any of the versions, but I gather from the affidavits that the waiter involved was insulted and racial remarks were flung around. I can’t even repeat the racial remarks and words in the affidavits.

“We will not tolerate any abuse to customers from our staff members, and vice versa.”

Fuller said that there would be an internal investigation in due process, followed by internal disciplinary action if necessary. He said that the waiter laid charges of assault and that the child minder laid charges of verbal abuse and racial slur against the customer.

A timeline of events inside the restaurant

The family comprising of Breda and Avené van Schoor and their son (2) arrived at the restaurant at approximately 7.22pm. They joined (whom Dow believes to be) Breda’s mother and father at the table. At some time during the night their son made his way to the play area. Probably due to the live feed in the dining area, Dow believes both Breda and Avené got upset to learn that the child minder had left her post. According to the footage Breda went to confront the child minder when she was back in the play area. His hand gestures and posture suggested aggression towards her and it was clear that a disagreement followed. He then picked up his son and stormed out of the play area.

At 20.33pm the upset child minder was comforted by another customer and one of the waiters in the play area, and she could be seen wiping her face with a tissue. Breda later returned to the play area. Back at the table, the older man (grandfather?) was watching the events on the live feed and at 20.37pm he got up and made his way towards the play area to join his (presumed) son.

“Unfortunately, at that specific time they were in the doorway of the play area, just outside our cameras’ view,” Dow said. The footage showed their shadows in the doorway.

“We understand from the affidavits that the ‘grandfather’ swung a shot at the waiter in question. The waiter, of course, was stunned by this as he only intervened in order to calm his customers and defuse the situation.”

At 20.38pm two waiters could be seen escorting the waiter in question out of the restaurant – to protect him, according to Fuller. The footage also confirmed that Breda and his (presumed) father ran after the waiters. Many curious customers left their seats and followed suit. Finally, at 20.43pm, the staff could be seen cleaning glass off the floor, allegedly after glasses and bowls had been knocked off a wall during the scuffle inside the restaurant.

Reaching for resolve

It became evident that Fuller had contacted Avené van Schoor some time after the record had spoken to her about the incident. He offered that she, her husband and Fuller meet to discuss the event rationally. He said that he would have liked to include front-of-house senior manager Donovan Dow and, if possible, members of the police, “in order to make the meeting a formal review of events”.

“I can not decide who was in the wrong without viewing the footage first, and I believed that granting them the opportunity also to view it would give both parties a clear idea of how the situation played out.”

Avené confirmed the possibility of a meeting with Fuller with the record, however, Fuller said that she refused a meeting.

“She did not want to put me in contact with her husband and when she eventually did, he yelled and screamed at me over the phone and threatened me with legal action.

“He demanded that I never contact either him or his wife again.”

Meantime Fuller had contacted Spur’s head office in Cape Town and communicated details of the incident. An internal investigation is under way.