A Steers store. For illustrative purposes. Picture: Famous Brands.
A Steers restaurant in Pretoria has received massive backlash after instructing its staff remove weeds outside the store. The video of the staff on gardening duty was captured by a member of the public. He is seen arguing with what appeared to be the manager of the Steers store, telling the man that the tasks he had assigned to the employees were an “abuse of workers and nonsense.” “This is an abuse of workers.
This brother is a chef, he must, he must work as a chef, he is not a gardener. Why do you do this to black people? That’s nonsense.” The man takes the garden tools and throws them on the road.
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Steers on Thursday said it was aware of the video showing team members performing gardening tasks on 7 January 2026. “Following an immediate investigation, we established that the manager asked team members to remove excessive weed growth due to a delay in landlord maintenance after the December festive period. “While keeping a clean exterior is important, this work should not be carried out by team members.
This is not standard practice at Steers and is unacceptable,” Steers said. Steers said it has reviewed all instances of this occurring at this restaurant. “It’s clear that these individuals made the wrong judgement call. Steers requires all Franchisees to comply fully with South African labour law and our strict food safety and brand.”
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