/ 25 March 2012

‘White man spat on my face’ at Virgin gym

A black man claims he was spat on by a white gym member at the Virgin Active in Hatfield, Pretoria, according to a report on Sunday.

Brian Maluleke (23) said he was scared to set foot in the gym again, City Press reported.

“I had started working out when I felt a cold liquid dripping down my ear and realised the white man next to me had just spat on my face,” Maluleke told the newspaper of the incident on Tuesday.

“I asked him why he spat on me. He rudely said: ‘It was a mistake. Sorry, dude. I was trying to lift a weight.'”

Maluleke said other gym members did nothing to help.

“I was humiliated and scared. I was the only black person around and I didn’t understand what was happening. I’d never seen my attacker before and we didn’t have a confrontation prior to the attack.”

According to the report, Virgin Active’s managing director Ross Faragher-Thomas apologised and suspended the white man’s gym membership.

The gym chain also helped Maluleke find a therapist and paid for his counselling.

In February, the Star reported that Liz Hleza said she was called “bloody k*****, a cockroach and a selfish bitch” during a spinning class at the Morningside branch of Virgin Active by a fellow gym-goer who took offence to her shouting “Yebo!” during the session. – Sapa