Edgars must compensate

The Edcon group, which owns the Edgars chain, was hauled before the Durban Equality Court in February when a Chatsworth woman, Zanele Mkhize, claimed she was a victim of racist abuse at the hands of Catharina Vorster, a manager in the chain's Chatsworth store.

Edcon was been ordered to pay R15000 to Mkhize after the court found that she had been discriminated against because she was black.

The case was sparked by an altercation between Mkhize and Vorster over the validity of Mkhize's identity document. Mkhize told the court she was “frog-marched” to Vorster's office at the store after attempting to buy a cellphone on her new account. She said Vorster accused her of having a fake identity document, whereafter an altercation between the two ensued.

Mkhize also said that Vorster accused her of being an illegal immigrant and told her that she had “a big mouth” and that “most of the black people in this shop have big mouths”.

“I understood this to mean that I talk too much in trying to defend my rights,” Mkhize told the court.

At the hearing, in February, Vorster denied she had singled Mkhize out because she was black and argued that she was doing her job in checking for fraudulent documents being used to open accounts. Vorster said such fraud was a common problem at the store.

But magistrate Cecilia Peer found that Vorster — an Edcon employee for 24 years — unfairly discriminated against Mkhize on the basis of sex and race.

The company has been ordered to pay Mkhize R15000, as well as the costs of the application.

Mkhize told the court that Vorster's comments were “extremely degrading and embarrassing”.

Peer found that Mkhize was a credible witness and said she believed her claims against Vorster.

The court supported Mkhize's claim that she was humiliated and reduced to tears by Vorster, who was adamant that her identity document was fake. An expert testified that Mkhize's ID was authentic.

Speaking through her lawyer, Mkhize said she was happy that justice has been served and that her version of events was vindicated.

She expressed bitterness at the way she was treated by Edgars, vowing that she would not shop there again.

“I am disappointed at the way big companies treat little people.”

Source: The Times

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