Talking point – Twitter pressure spurs Virgin into action

An outcry on social networks after a muted response by gym group Virgin Active to a racist incident has caused the company to re-open an investigation.

A woman told The Star that she was called a “bloody k****r, a cockroach and a selfish bitch” by a man in her spinning class on December 31 after she continuously shouted “yebo” to the music and exercise at the gym group’s.

Virgin Active members reacted angrily on Twitter and Facebook, calling for the company to “do the right thing”, after the offending member received a “final warning”.

The gym group yesterday confirmed through a statement on it’s Facebook page that an investigation into the incident will immediately be re-opened.

Virgin active managing director Ross Faragher-Thomas said: “I have been following this issue on Twitter and it is of real concern to me. I’ve asked my team to immediately re-open the matter as I personally want to get to the bottom of this.”

He said that nobody at Virgin Active would tolerate racial prejudice of any kind.

Earlier, Liz Hleza recounted how she thought that the man was going to hit her as he was “very angry”.

“He said I should keep quiet and kept saying this bloody k****r, you k****r. He was pointing fingers at me. He said bloody c**t and that I was a selfish bitch.

“He also told me that I was born walking on four legs with a tail, and I should go back to the bushes where I belong and make that noise there.”

After the class, Hleza went to the manager on duty to complain and when that manager called the man and his friend to her office, they refused to go.

The man, she said, swore at her again. “He said ‘You bloody kaffir, you are a cockroach and next time I come to the gym I will bring Doom to spray you with’.”

The woman was reportedly unhappy with the way Virgin’s management handled the situation.

Virgin Active’s Karen Gordon told The Star that the franchise did not tolerate discrimination and that “the member that allegedly misbehaved also received formal correspondence … which included a final warning”.

Regarding the instructor’s failure to intervene, Gordon said he had claimed he had been unable to hear the verbal exchanges.

The man apologised on Saturday in a meeting convened by the club, and Hleza accepted the apology.

However, she said she wanted her story to be told “because … there are still people like that out there”.

Twitter users such as Elana Williams said: “I train at this branch of VA. Unfortunately, I’m not surprised by anything I have read.”

Victor Dlamini tweeted: “In the end they will have no choice but to do the right thing. They must terminate the membership of the bully.”

On Virgin Active’s Facebook page, Lindiwe Thabethe, wrote: “I have very angry by the story on IOL about racism at Virgin Active. At this day and age we still get people who get away with racism. Virgin Active was supposed to solve the issue immediately and a final warning is definitely not the appropriate reaction. [sic]”

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- News 24