- The police have received formal complaints about an incident at Hank's Olde Irish Pub where a black patron was allegedly told he needed a white person to be with him to enter.
- At the same time, ConcertsSA has suspended its relationship with the pub.
- The incident has spurred the EFF to stage a protest there on Tuesday.
Two cases of assault and a complaint of racism relating to a confrontation at Hank's Olde Irish Pub in Cape Town have been reported to the police.
In addition, ConcertsSA (CSA) has suspended its support for the concerts it helps arrange at the pub in Bree Street.
This follows an incident in which an owner was filmed invoking the pub's right of admission policy a bouncer had told a black patron he could only enter if accompanied by a white person.
Western Cape police spokesperson Ndakhe Gwala said two charges of assault were laid at the weekend, and police were still investigating, with no arrests yet.
On Sunday, a video was posted to Twitter showing a lengthy confrontation with a man who identified himself in the video as the pub's owner when a group of friends went back to complain about the treatment levelled at their black friend.
The patron, Cape Town lifesaver Thabiso Danca, told News24 in an interview he was finishing a cigarette outside. When he tried to join his friends inside, he was told he could only go in if a white person inside fetched him.
"My friend came out, and I was allowed in," he said. "I was accompanied by a white person now.
He told News24 he felt humiliated and embarrassed, and when he told his friends, which included his friend, Chris Logan, what happened, they insisted on going to the pub with him to alert the owner. A full interview with Danca and Logan will be published on Tuesday.
The incident was highlighted in a video of Logan confronting an owner and explaining what had happened. When the first response was "right of admission", Logan pointed out it was discrimination against a black man, a crime in South Africa.
This exchange was followed by a second incident involving an attempt to bar another person from the group from re-entering after going outside briefly to return someone's dropped keys.
According to Logan, that escalated into him being assaulted when he tried to intervene.
Danca reported a case of racism to the police, and Logan assault.
The police said the two charges of assault were countercharges.
Asked for comment, pub owner Johnny Papadakis said half-way through the interview he was not to be quoted in any way and would issue a statement later.
Meanwhile, CSA put out a statement saying it was withdrawing support for the venue for the time being.
"The ConcertsSA project is committed to the South African Constitution and Bill of Rights and their protections for the human rights of all. We strongly distance ourselves from any policies or practices that prejudice people based on 'race' or any other grounds.
"In light of these allegations, ConcertsSA, through our partner promoter, Real Wired Music, has suspended its support for concerts at Hank's Olde Irish Pub. No CSA concerts will be supported at the venue until the accusations have been investigated and a satisfactory conclusion has been reached."
ConcertsSA said planned line-ups would be moved to other spaces in Cape Town to mitigate the impact on artists and audiences.